Truth Vs Lie
Sermon from Bro Ryan Edwards
Sunday, January 26th, 2025
Our Heavenly Father. We are in need of you, Lord. Every breath we take, we take in you. Because every breath we take comes from you. You sustain our lives. Every breath. Paul says, every breath is from the Lord. And so we acknowledge you as Creator. We acknowledge you as Savior. Father, we ask that you would open our eyes and ears to your word, that you would teach and preach your word in the power of the Holy Spirit through me. That I would just be a vessel or that you would teach, that we would discern spiritual truths and that we would apply him to our lives, that we would grow to become more like Christ. We ask these things in his name. Amen.
So this morning, I want to jump immediately into our text, and I think you will quickly see why. All right, we are jumping back into First John. First John, chapter four. He says, beloved, we do not believe. Excuse me. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. It's a command. Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits. All right, there. We need to stop. Because one of the fastest ways to clear a room of Baptists is to start talking about spirits. And I don't mean the liquor kind, although that would clear a room, too. Not because people are afraid of it, because they don't want everyone to know what they do. Don't leave, okay? Don't leave. This is biblical. Right here in Scripture, we read spirit and spirits. All right? We need to unpack these truths. And if it makes you uncomfortable, then you need to be made uncomfortable. All right?
I think it's ridiculous. People think when they come to the Bible that it should just always be comforting to them. That is not why God gave us His Word. He gave us His Word because it is truth and we need truth. And that truth will make us feel uncomfortable. But if we receive it, if we accept it, if we believe it, then we will be more in line with reality and we will become more like Christ and we will shine brighter for his glory. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. So we come right out of the gate this morning, making us uncomfortable with some strange and veiled Truths. What is he talking about with these spirits? False prophets. Before we answer those questions, we need to be reminded of a couple of things.
First, we live in a spiritual world just as much as we live in a physical one. We live in a spiritual world just as much as we live in a physical one. We are spiritual beings. That means that we are spirits, not just that we have spirits, right? We are spirits just as much as we are bodies. All right, we are, in fact, I would actually say more so because this body is going to pass away, right? But my spirit and Christ is going to live on. So in one sense, you are more a spirit than you are a body. Have you ever thought about that? That is how real the spiritual realm is. According to Scripture, in our world, there are animals who have bodies but no spirits. In the universe, there are spiritual beings, angels, God, demons, that they have spirits. They're spiritual beings, but they don't have bodies. We are unique and that God made us both physical and spiritual. We have spirits and we have bodies. We are spirits housed in bodies for this earthly life. I think it was CS Lewis who said something to the effect of the greatest and most convincing lie that Satan has ever told is the one that he doesn't exist. If he can convince us that these things aren't real, he's one. If the enemy can convince you they're not the enemy, it's game over. They are among us. Spirits are real. They do affect us. We are influenced by them. And so John gives us a warning. And it's not just John. I could go all over Scripture. Jude, Jesus, Paul, Peter, Moses, prophets. All over Scripture there are warnings. Be careful. There are false prophets. There are evil spirits that are out and they want to deceive you. They want to destroy you. Isn't that what the work of the devil is? He came to steal, kill and destroy. And Jesus came that we may have life. He gives us the truth that we can have life. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. We need God's word more than we need anything else. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So John has shown us the spiritual reality or the spiritual conflict that we are involved in. Throughout his book already. First he showed us love and contrast to hate. They come from spiritual realities.
In First John 2, 9 it says, Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Those are spiritual categories, spiritual realms. Light and darkness are spiritual kingdoms. Essentially, whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him. Love and hate are spiritual realities. They represent truths. They represent what spiritual condition you are in. In First John 3:14, John writes, We know that we have passed out of death into life. These are spiritual categories again, because all the people he's talking to are alive physically, but we have passed out of death and into life. Jesus says, if you believe in me, you will pass out of death into life. Whoever does not love abides in death. Light, love and life come from God and are the result of God working in a person's life, causing them to be born again, while darkness, hate and death are all aspects of living apart from God. That's only the first contrast, spiritual contrast, we see in the book of John so far. First John second is the truth versus lies. These are also representations of spiritual categories. First John 2:21 22, he says, I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth. It's one of those statements. It's like, why does he even need to say this? This is obvious, John. He says, who is the liar? But he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. First John 2:27, a few verses later, says, but as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, just as it's taught, you abide in him. So we see here truth and lies, they're in opposition to one another. They are contrary, they are exclusive. You can't have a truth if it's tainted with a lie. We live in a world of truths and falsehoods. God is the God of truth. The Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The reason if you are a Christian, you became a Christian, is because you believe the truth about Jesus. The devil is the father of lies. He's been lying from the beginning. His native tongue is lies. Even if he says a bunch of true things, he'll sneak in a lie and corrupt it all as a hook to get you to believe it. So you have love and hate, you have truth and lies, and finally you have the children of God and the children of the devil. In First John 3:10, he writes, but by this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. You see, the Connection there between love and righteous. Loving someone and practicing righteousness co together. But we see that there are only two spiritual families that make up the human race. Those who do not practice righteousness reveal themselves as children of the devil. Those who do not love as God defined love, not as the world defined love as God defines love. Those who love and practice righteousness show themselves to be children of God. They are the ones who believe the truth of God and follow God. Everyone else, whether they know it or not, are following the ways of the devil. Those are the only two options. We see these things come together. John kind of sums them up at the end of First John, chapter three, right before don't believe every spirit, but test them. In chapter three, verse 23 and 24, we read this. And this is his commandment. Whose commandment? Jesus commandment that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he is commanded. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us. That is the first time in this letter where the Holy Spirit is brought up explicitly. So what's the connection here?
The Spirit produces these things in us. See, we view this as two commands. Believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. But there's not two commands. That is one command. If you believe Jesus is the Christ you will love. And the Spirit brings these things about in our lives as he works on us, as he draws us to Christ. We believe in Christ. He transforms us to be people of God, children of God. And then the fruit of the Spirit is what? Love. You see, it is the Spirit that produces the love in us. It's not just something we can muster up. Well, sure, I can love someone for a while. I can really like a lot of things about my wife. And as wonderful as she is, there are times where I need the Spirit to help me love her and vice versa. Right? You've been married for longer than five seconds, you know that. So with this word spirit in verse 24, he transitions from our obedience of loving and believing to the spiritual world at large and the dangers that exist in it. I've mentioned before how John is kind of circular. He's kind of like a flock of ducks or geese that kind of circle around before he actually lands. And so a lot of these themes in verses one through four, we've heard before and I've gone over before, but you need to remember who John is talking to. This is a Church. This is a group of people who have been just raked over the coals because of false teaching. And so John is saying, wake up. This is not a walk in a park. This is not a small thing that has happened to you. There are spiritual forces at work. And here's the key. Spiritual forces use people. Just as God uses us to accomplish his work in this world. We are the bride of Christ, the body of Christ. So does the enemy use people to accomplish its purposes. So look out. We should not take false teaching lightly. The battle for human souls is fought in the minds of people. The battle for human souls is a battle of ideas, the battle of thought. It's a battle between truth and lies. The greatest weapon the enemy possesses is the lie. It takes control of how you think about a certain thing, and it corrupts it. And then you act upon it. And now you're not acting in the truth. In reality, you're going a different way, and it will destroy your life. It's easy to see that in things like the LGBTQ community and transition, obviously.
I saw a documentary recently, and one of the statements is, thank you. Okay. I saw a documentary recently, and one of the statements that was made that stuck out to me was this young man who believed that he really was a girl. He said, I thought that if I changed myself on the outside, that would correct what was wrong. On the inside, I was wrong. But there's a lie that was going around, and everyone in this room, I have no doubt, can see it plain as day. But there are things that we miss. There are things more subtle. And John warns us, don't believe every spirit, but test them. Test them to see if they really are of God. So the question arises, well, how am I to test them? But before he gives us that test, he tells us why we should not believe every spirit. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. So I see two commands here. Don't believe every spirit and test the spirits. Don't believe every spirit. Did you know that there is a spirit, a spiritual reality, behind everything you say? It's either true or it's false. And those are spiritual categories. Every word that comes out of your mouth has a spiritual component to it. Every word you say either lines up with the reality of God as God created it, or it lines up with the lies of the enemy. It goes against how God created things. And you can know the spirit behind words by testing them. John doesn't want Christians believing anything. When you believe anything, it's not long before you'll believe Everything. You have to be wise. You have to discern the truth. Truth gets smothered by all kinds of falsehoods. And that's exactly what the forces of the enemy want. Here's truth. Well, I'll just sprinkle a little falsehood in here and it'll corrupt it, it'll smother it, it'll cover it up where people walk right over it and they don't realize they're leaving the truth behind. They want us so confused that we can't identify the truth from lies. We are at a point in our Christian culture where we are no longer content with the gospel. We're no longer content with the truth of Jesus. We now want to go and turn this into kind of like a puzzle that needs to be put together. It's like there are a bunch of these secret codes embedded in scripture. And so we just need to find out the right key and put it in there so we can find out these secret truths. Be very, very careful if that is how you view the Bible. The devil can take this and do a bunch of miraculous things with it. You realize he used it. He quoted it to Jesus to tempt Jesus. He knows this better than you do. He knows it better than I do, and he knows how to use it against you. We constantly think we need something new, that we need something fresh. There are plenty of evil spirits out there that are just chomping their bits to give you something new and fresh. But new and fresh can take you away from the face of Jesus Christ. So don't take the bait. Believe me, there is nothing new under the sun. We stand on the shoulders of 2000 years of church history. I will almost guarantee to you that if the Holy Spirit has not revealed it to his church in 2000 years, it's probably not true. But the problem is, is we don't know our church history.
We don't know some of the lies that come up in our culture have actually been dealt with by men who lived 500 years ago, 1200 years ago, 1500 years ago. We have no idea because we don't know. John tells us how to test the spirits in the following verses. Look at the reason, though, why we are instructed to not believe everything we're taught. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. Many. It's not just a couple. There's, you know, there's one over on the east coast, there's one on the west coast, or maybe one in Asia, one in Africa, one in Europe. No, many, many false prophets are out there. So what is a false prophet? A false prophet is someone who claims to speak God's truth but doesn't. That's what a false prophet is. Now, there's different levels. For instance, someone could say, I disagree with you on this, so you're a false prophet. Not the same thing as what John's talking about here. I can be wrong. In fact, I guarantee you I am wrong. There are many things that I believe that I've changed my mind on before, which means I was wrong then or I'm wrong now, or maybe both. I still don't have it right. That's not the kind of false prophets John is talking about. It is okay to have a difference of opinion on things. The kind of false prophet John is talking about is those who have left the truth of Jesus and are seeking to deceive you. John says they've gone out into the world. So remember the different instances of world, how the word world is used. There's a couple different options for here. He does not mean that these are just people who are roaming across the globe. What he means is that these are individuals who have gone out into the system of the world. The system, traditions and values of the world that stand against God's truth, God's way, and God's will. Will. So it is vital that we test the spirit behind a teacher before we believe their word. Because there are false prophets who have gone out into the world, meaning they've left the church and they've gone out into the system of how people who don't follow God think. Christians must exercise wisdom, discernment. We have to avoid two extremes.
The first extreme is superstition, which just believes everything. It believes anything. But the other extreme is where we don't believe anything. We get so suspicious of everything that we actually quench the spirit from speaking to us something new that we've not heard before. Be careful of that. You have to test the spirits. Not only are these false teachers in the world. I want you to look at what he says about them in verse five. He says they are from the world. Therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. So not only are they going out into the world, they're in the world, they're from the world. And they speak like the world. So the world listens to them. Them, that is, the world believes them. That's a mouthful. The world recognizes its own people and listens to their message, which originates in their own ideas and reflects their own perspective. False teachers go to their own because Their own listened to them. That's what we all do, right? Very few of us actually want to be challenged and listen to people who disagree with us. Makes us uncomfortable. It's true for false prophets too. They go to where people will listen and follow. So here's actually a test. You can know a false prophet by who's following them. While it's not the ultimate test, it is a test. It's something we should keep in mind when we come across new teaching. It doesn't completely exclude, it doesn't mean it's all false. But it means that we should take it with a grain of salt, with discernment and wisdom, measure it up to God's word. The danger that I'm feeling right now in preaching and teaching this is that that what you can do with this message is you can think that there's all these dangers out there. And so I'm just going to build my defenses up and I'm not going to listen to anybody except for these couple people that I like. You're going to create your own echo chamber. In other words, the spirit is the spirit of truth. And believe you and me, there's more truth out there than what we currently know. So don't build up those defenses so high that nothing can come in but test the spirits. In case you haven't noticed, I am not talking about politics. I thought I better make that explicit this morning because it's easy to think about this and automatically go to the political chaos and polarization that's going on in our culture. John is. That's so far from John's thought right now, it's not even funny. Like, these people never voted before in their lives. They have no say over who rules over them. Politics is the last thing on their mind when it comes to false teachers and false prophets.
The church of Jesus Christ is not made up of a right and left. The church of Jesus Christ is not built upon people who sign a dotted line on a political party. The church of Jesus Christ is built upon the truth of Jesus. There are truths and there are lies. There are those who believe the truth and those who have been deceived into believing lies. That is it. Those who follow Jesus, those who are seeking to abide in him, and those who still need to receive him as their Savior. Savior. But let me get to the main test. The main test is this. What do you think of Jesus? Who do you say Jesus is? Verse 2. By this you will know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is from God. Now I to pause there, because what we do when we read the Word, the phrase Jesus Christ, we don't think about what is being said. So a better way to word this might be. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus is the Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Because Jesus Christ isn't just this first and last name. Christ is a title. Christ is a position. Christ is something he accomplished. He is the Messiah and the Savior. So every spirit who doesn't acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah who has come in the flesh is not of God. Don't listen to them. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist which you heard was coming and now is already in the world. We've covered a lot of the Antichrist talk before, so I will not go into it now.
The test is, who do you say Jesus is? That's all it boils down to. You know that. That means there's a lot of room for disagreement, isn't there? There's a lot of teaching in the Christian church that is not explicitly who Jesus is and his incarnation. That means all of that. All of that is open discussion. Everything from baptism, creation, end times, predestination, free will, all of it. Don't ever call someone a false teacher because they disagree with you on those subjects. If they believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah come in the flesh, they are of God. But I see a little bit of a problem. What does it mean to confess? If I get a parrot up here and teach it, to repeat the phrase Jesus is the Christ, is that parrot now saved? That's ridiculous. How many times have you said, sorry, but you didn't mean it? I will be sorry, probably later, but I'm not right now. I'm going to say it anyway right now to get this over with and I'll just move on and it'll just kind of fade in the background. I mean, come on, if you're married for longer than a day, you know what that's like. Like Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven on that day, many will come to me and they'll say, lord, Lord, did we not do this or that? Did we not prophesy? Did we not do miracles? I mean. I mean, we say, well, I went to church. These people are prophesying and doing miracles. In the name of Jesus. And they're not Christians. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. What does it mean to confess?
Confession is more than just mere words. Confession implies heartfelt conviction that leads to action. The type of confession that cleanses us from sin is more than just an admission of guilt. In First John, chapter 1:9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So can a man who is about to be put to death for heinous crimes the second before he's injected. Say, I believe Jesus is Lord. Is that a confession? Ultimately, that's for God to decide. But I would venture to say it's likely not. Because confession implies conviction that will bring about action. True belief leads to renewal and life change. It's not just speaking words to get you out of a problem. It's not just saying words because you think that's what somebody wants to hear. A confession is something that is true. And the way you know it is true is because there is a life, a heart to back it up. So Jesus continues with. Excuse me, John continues with his readers. Let me. Let me pause just a second. I want to reiterate the test then. The test is confession that Jesus is the Christ. That is the ultimate test. So John is teaching his readers who've been ravaged by false teachers and false prophets. And they've come in and they've shifted them like we. And I mean, the church is scattered and what are we to do? So John's letter to them is, say I write so that you may know. I write because you do know the truth, and I want you to be affirmed in the truth. And so constantly, John. John will. Makes a huge warning like, don't believe everything you hear. Test the spirits with a phrase like this. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. I mean, if. If that's man, you are scared. Yet there are dangers out there. Be careful. Don't believe everything. Test the spirits. Be careful. But know this. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Those false prophets have nothing on the Holy Spirit. This, this sentence is. Is structured in such a way where the you is. Is huge emphasis. So it would be like you are from God and have overcome them. Little children. It's so powerful how John takes his warning and pairs it with such tenderness for his hearers. You you are not of them. You are of God. Yes, you. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, who is the righteous One who takes away the sins of the world, who is the propitiation for the world. Yes, you then are of God. So don't be afraid. He who is in you is greater than he who. Who is in the world. This. This phrase is probably one of the most popular from First John. If it's not the. It's in the top three. And there's so much packed in there that I'm thinking about doing a separate message next week just on that phrase. But I'll decide about that later. Depends on how long we want to spend in First John. Right. So for now, the context John plays a role. Okay, In John. In verses three through six, John's alternating between his audience and the false prophets back and forth. In verse three, John associates the false prophets with the Antichrist. That's the level of seriousness we're talking about. They are of the world. They've gone out into the world. You should not be surprised at any of this. The world follows them. Of course the world follows them. They're telling the world, the people of the world, the things that they want to hear. Those who are born of God. God show that they are of God by overcoming the falsehood of false teachers. I'm going to say that again. Those who are born of God show that they are born of God by overcoming the falsehood of false teaching. Did you catch what he said? All right. You are from God and have overcome them. This is a throwback. He says, I write these things to you in First John, chapter two, about those who are trying to deceive you. That would be the false prophets, but the anointing you received from him, that is God abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true, it is no lie. Just as it has taught you, abide in Him. Do you remember what anoint means? It means to apply like an ointment.
So God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has applied the truth to you, if you are a believer and the truth now lives in you. Because the Spirit is the Spirit of love, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of wisdom. So the way you overcome the falsehoods is by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is applying truth to your life. So there is a danger here, because if you are living your life saying no to the Holy Spirit, you are quenching him in your life. And you are making yourself more susceptible to believing lies. And that is why he says, just as it has taught you, abide in him. Christians do not overcome those who are against Christ by berating them. Christians do not overcome those who are against Christ by winning debates against them. We do not win by finding someone who's smarter than that person or more skilled in study and memorization and the facts. We overcome them because this power of the Holy Spirit resides in us. And we have to decide to follow the truth given to us by the Spirit. So he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. He's given you the truth. You believe the truth. As you live in the truth, you overcome the lies of the false prophets. But that's not all. You see, in First John 4, verse 4, he says that you are from God. And then in verse six, he says, we are from God. Who is the we? The apostles. John's talking about the apostolic witness of Christ. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this, we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error. The world listens to those who speak its own language. Yes, the world recognizes its own people and listens to their message. It originates in their own circle, their own corrupt system that is of this devil. And it reflects their perspective of ungodliness. And just as the world is eager and ready to hear the message of the world, so are those who have the Spirit ready and eager to hear the message of the Spirit. So if I had to sum all of this up, here's how I would do it. God is with you. Keep seeking the truth and submitting to the Spirit within you, and he will guard you against the lies of the enemy.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your mercy and grace that you've given to us through your word. Oh, what kind of God are you that you would give us the truth over thousands of years, kept in a form that we can have access to and read for our own? And you, in the power of your Spirit, use it and apply it to us. You anoint us with it so that we can live in the truth, so that we can be free in Christ and not captive to lies and darkness and corruption. So, Father, I pray even now that your Holy Spirit would be moving in our midst. Lord, I pray that if there are lies being believed by people in this room, you would reveal that to them, that you would gently convict them and make it evident that they are not following the truth of your word, Lord. And I pray that you would work in their hearts, that they would repent, they would change their mind, that they would cast out that lie and they would firmly place their mind. They would set their mind on Christ, on His truth. Father, I thank you that you came to set captives free. I pray that you would be at work to do that, even this morning amongst us. Amen. Going to invite you to respond to the message by praying and asking the Lord to reveal to you any falsehoods you may be believing.
You may be thinking. Well, Brother Ryan, I do believe that Jesus is the Christ and He's come in the flesh. I believe that he died for my sin. I believe he rose again. I placed my faith and trust in him. That is praise God. Thank the Spirit for working in your life to bring you to that point. Unfortunately, the enemy is more crafty than that. Because there are other falsehoods that infiltrate our minds and our hearts. Lies we believe that need to be cast down and out of our lives. God can give you the power to do that. So I encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal any falsehood you may be believing. Maybe he's impressing upon you a loved one, a friend, a family member. Pray for them. And at very least, you can be in prayer for the church. That we would be a beacon of light and hope and truth in the community of Centralia.
Prayer
What is the purpose of prayer? Why pray when God is soveriegn?
Sermon manuscript from January 19th, 2025 - Bro Ryan Edwards
Sermon January 19, 2025
Bro Ryan Edwards
As we begin new year together, I want to start a tradition. Some of you, that makes you excited, and some of you are like, “Oh, no, another tradition.”
Traditions are good. They can be good when you insist upon them. They can be bad. But I want to start a tradition that we begin each year with prayer. We will be returning to First John in the future, and I'm eager to do so. But I've been impressed or burdened with a thought, and this morning I want to share the thought with you, share the idea with you, and hopefully give you that burden as well because I like to share things. My purpose in doing that is to hopefully motivate you to unite with me in prayer for the church. But the thought is this -
Nothing will be accomplished this year for the Kingdom of God in our Church or through our church without prayer. Nothing will be accomplished for the kingdom of God in our church or through our church without prayer.
Now that might sound extreme to you. That might sound preposterous or outlandish. It might be an overstatement to you, but I assure you it is not. I assure you that statement is 100% true. Yes, God willing, we will continue to meet every Sunday throughout the year. Yes, God willing, we will continue to have life groups. Yes, God willing, we will continue to have Sunday school. Yes, God willing we will continue to have Wednesday night youth group and Wednesday night kids ministry. But I am not interested in having programs for the sake of programs. I'm not interested in meeting just so that we can say we met together. I am interested in something greater than that. If all we are is interested in having self sustaining activities and religious institution and ceremonies, then nothing is being accomplished for the kingdom of God. And I am interested in seeing the kingdom of God come to Centralia. I am interested in seeing God's kingdom grow in Centralia. I am interested in seeing souls delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Christ being made alive together with him. I am interested in seeing lives transformed. I am interested in seeing people healed. I'm interested in seeing relationships reconciled, families made new and healthy again. Those are the things that I am interested in. And the only way they will happen is through prayer. And I'm not interested in these things for myself. Meaning I'm not interested in these things so that I can make my name great. I'm not interested in these things so that First Baptist Church of Centralia can be some kind of flagship for any kind of ministry. I'm interested in these things solely for the glory of God. Solely to make his name great in Centralia. And if the church is not about doing that, we can't call ourselves a church. So many churches are really just religious institutions. They're just spiritual businesses that are trying to make a name great. They're using God to make themselves known, to make themselves great. To get more clicks on the Internet to spread their own fame. May God save us from such foolishness. Now I'm going to let you in on a little secret. None of what I said. I'm interested in seeing God's glory spread through Centralia. See families healed, see people saved. None of that is going to happen through our programs and our activities. None of it. All of it happens by the grace and power of God who listens and answers the prayers of his people. So that is why I say nothing will be accomplished this year for the kingdom of God apart from prayer. So with that being restated, let's pause and pray and then I'm going to share with you what I want to accomplish this morning through the message.
Lord, nothing can be accomplished for your kingdom without your help and praise your name. You are the God who helps. You are the God who hears, you are the God who answers. You are the God who moves and works to bring about your will in our lives. So Father, I pray that you would do that. Lord, if it means me covering my mouth and sitting down, then that is what I want. Lord, we ask that you be with us. We ask that you fill us, give us hearts to receive, put a passion within us to see your kingdom come. Build your church, O Lord. If it means we need to get out of the way, oh Lord, then let us get out of the way. We ask these things that you would make your glory great and for the good of your people. Amen.
So I want to start this morning with by providing you a definition of prayer. And then I'm going to share with you a problem or conundrum that I've had personally with prayer that I've had to overcome. And I'm going to end the message by giving you some exhortations that I hope will help motivate you in your prayer life. So first, a definition. The most basic definition of prayer is talking to God. Right? And it's a good place to start. But it's elementary meaning it's foundational, it's basic. Right. It's in a way over simplistic. It's a good entry level definition. This is the definition we would give to like a third grade Sunday school class, right? Praying is just talking to God. And so it's good, it's true. But the hope is that someday those third graders will go beyond that simple definition. Not that they'll leave it behind, but that they'll build on that understanding and definition. But unfortunately, many Christians don't. Many Christians don't grow beyond their Sunday school understanding of prayer. One reason that talking to God is too simplistic to be a solid full definition of prayer is because the Bible talking to God makes it out like you're just having a casual conversation with a sore client clerk. Surely that kind of praying is acceptable. Yes. But did you know that there are seven different Hebrew and Greek terms used in the Bible to describe prayer? Seven words like supplication, words like confession and intercession, pleading, seeking God's face, thanksgiving and Praise. Those are all words that the Bible uses to describe and define prayer. So talking with God is a good and true definition, for what it's worth. But if you want to develop a robust, intimate, life giving and powerful prayer life with God, then you must move beyond that thinking about prayer. Paul said, when I was a child, I thought like a child, but when I became a man, I put my childish ways behind me. If you want to grow in your prayer life, then you must move beyond or build upon that simplistic definition of prayer. And that's what I want to help you do this morning. One of the first examples of prayer in the Bible is found in Genesis chapter 4, beginning in verse 25. And Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. To Seth also a son was born and he called his name Enosh. At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. Did you catch that out of context? This may be hard to see where or what the point is. So before I go on to explain the passage, let's explore the key phrase for a minute to call upon the name of the Lord. It does not mean that you just repeat the pass. You just repeat the phrase. Kind of like how we use praying in Jesus name. We just think, well, as long as I tack that on the end of it, I'm good, right? That's like the magic phrase to open up God's ears and answer my prayer. If I just say this phrase at the end of it. It's not about parroting the right phrase in the Bible. When someone calls upon the name of the Lord, they are appealing to God's nature, to who he is, his very person. It's an appeal to his character. So to call upon the name of the Lord is to cry out for help to the only one who can help you. He is our helper, and prayer establishes him as our helper. The question we need to ask ourselves in this passage is what are they calling upon the Lord to do? You see, the Bible is God's revelation of himself over time. And so what we often do is we'll read a passage in Genesis and we'll take everything else in the Bible and we'll try to pack it in there. And when you do that, you can't understand how the people understood this or what it meant in the theological implications. So what were the people in Genesis chapter four calling upon the Lord to do? What had God revealed to people about himself and his plan. What were expectations be? Well, the only promise that God had given in his word up to this point is found in the midst of God cursing Adam, Eve and the serpent.
In Genesis 3:15, God promised a child the work of the devil. He would reverse the chaos and corruption and depravity that the serpent caused and brought to humanity and creation. And yet, after all these years, humanity continues to descend into violence and wickedness. So as you read Genesis, it's like each child, you read through the genealogies, like, is this the child? No. Is this the child? No. Is this the child? No. Because this one died and this one died and this one died. So by the time Enosh comes along, how many children had been born who weren't the child? And then Enosh is born, and he also is not the child. I mean, it wouldn't take long to realize this ain't the one. But they remember. They remember God's promise and call upon him name to fulfill it. Send the one who will crush the serpent and put things back together. Humanity is becoming desperate, and they remember the promise. And so they call upon the name of the Lord to fulfill his promise. So what can we learn about prayer from this passage? What definition for prayer ought we use? There are many. There really are. But here's the one I'm going to give to you. At the heart of praying is this calling upon the name of the lord. In Psalm 145, 18, we read, the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him. In truth, prayer is calling upon God to come through on his promises. Now, you might think that seems a little restrictive, Brother Ryan. Yes, it can be. But when you understand the gospel, when you understand what God has done through Jesus Christ, it opens up a floodgate. Because when you are praising God, you are actually fulfilling a promise that God made to people. The Old and New Testament, that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That God will bring the nations to himself and they will praise him. Every tribe, tongue and nation will praise the Lord, will worship him. You are participating in the fulfillment of that promise, all because of Jesus.
Praying is a way of demonstrating our faith to God and rejoicing in his promises. When we believe his promises, when we bank on his promises, when we are relying upon his promises, it comes out in prayer. You express that prayer. So with that basic definition established, I want to move on and show you and share with you just a little bit about My personal journey in prayer. I don't say that or share this like, I've arrived. I'm still growing in prayer. And I have a lot further to grow in my prayer life than I care to admit. But I can. I can be sick. Okay? Some of you are like, yeah, we've realized that already. But thankfully, God is gracious and he's kind and he's patient. And because of that, I am able to share with you what he's done in my life in prayer. It's amazing how something so basic as prayer that you can teach to a child, someone can grow their whole life and continue to grow in their understanding of this thing. It's amazing how it can be so simple and yet so complex, so apparent and so mysterious. So let me explain to you my conundrum, my problem, and it occurs due to an apparent conflict of theological truths.
First, I am a huge believer in and an advocate for the belief in the sovereignty of God. I believe the Bible clearly teaches that God is all powerful. He is the supreme being in the universe. This means that every single molecule in the universe is under his complete knowledge and control. From every ray of sunshine to the movement of every flock of geese, he holds power and sway over all of it. That, I believe, is what the Bible teaches. Every roll, every roll of the dice in Vegas obeys the laws of physics. But he put them into place and he governs his creation and keeps it under his sway. In Proverbs 16:33, we read this. The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord, the lot. Well, which lot? All of them. Any one of them. This is not distinct. They're saying this one obeys the law of God and this one doesn't. It's the lot. The casting of dice is thrown into the lap, but it's every decision, every outcome is from the Lord. Think about that for a minute. Every single time dice are thrown. It's not just physics at work. It's not just some randomized equation. God is over every single outcome. What is chance and probability to us is actually the sovereignty of God. God, the conception of every newly conceived creature is the result of his sovereign power played out in what we would call reproduction biology. Just because we have fancy scientific and intellectual name to categorize God's sovereign control doesn't make it any less amazing to think about God's power and control over his creation. I believe that the Bible also teaches that God is sovereign over the rise and fall of nations. He is sovereign over elections and he is sovereign over the hearts of every man, woman and child under his sovereign reign.
The second theological truth is a feature of God's sovereignty that specifically affects my understanding of prayer. That is that God is at work to accomplish his will. He is working out everything according to his perfect and nothing nowhere can thwart his purpose. Let me give you some key verses to establish this truth. Psalm 115, verse 3. Our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. There's only one being in the universe can say he does whatever he wants. You don't do everything you want. Lots of things you want to do that you don't do. Maybe you're concerned about what someone might think about it. Maybe it's contrary to something else that you want. Maybe you're limited. Man, I really wish I could do that, but boy, I just don't have the time. I don't have the intellect. I don't have the ability. Only God does all that he pleases. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does. As if one verse wasn't enough to teach us. He said this wasn't a mistake. I'll say it again. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeds. Psalm 33:11 the counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his generation. Excuse me, the plans of his heart to all generations. There's not going to be a generation that's going to rise up and ruin God's plan, despite what the generations prior to it think, right? The plans of his heart to all generations. In Job 42:2 Job's in job's confession, he says, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Thwart is a word we don't use very often. It means to prevent or obstruct. Nobody is going to get in the way of God doing what he plans. God sets his mind to do something and it gets done. Proverbs 19:21 this blows my mind. Many are the plans and the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. What that means is that of all the millions and billions of people that have ever lived who've had plans in their heart, God uses the plans of man to accomplish his will, even when the men and women do not know that God is going to use their plan. Surely God is sovereign over everything when he can even use the plans of a non believing pagan king to accomplish his purposes. Isaiah 46:9 11 For I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish my purpose. It's not that like God just looked forward to figure out what was going to happen and that's why he can share it. It's that he is going to accomplish it. It's like this is going to happen because I'm going to make it happen. He is sovereign over all things. He gives an example calling a bird of prey from the east, a single bird. He can call from across the countryside. The man of my counsel from a far country. I need someone to come do this over here in this geographical location. I will call a man from across the nations to come there and accomplish my purposes. I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it. Isaiah 55:11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. How many rulers of the world wish they had that kind of power? They say this is what I want done and they give the order to their subjects and they misunderstand and they don't accomplish it right or something else happens that they can't control. God accomplishes his purposes.
But there's a third theological truth that causes me a problem. I believe the Bible teaches that God is all wise, which means he has never needed or taken any counsel from anyone ever. He is the one who decided where the seas would stop. He's the one who engineered the universe to hang stars on nothing. He is the one who thought it all up. He is the one who engineered gravity, electromagnetism and all other known and unknown forces of the universe. He does not need me to tell him anything. So here's my problem. How or why would an almighty, infinite, great, all knowing, all wise, perfect, holy God, who is the creator and stainer of all the universe, hear or heed the prayers of a finite, foolish, ignorant, wicked and vile sinners such as myself? And believe me, I'm going easy on myself when I say those. He has no need. I can't teach him anything. I cannot inform him on something that he does not already know. There is nothing I can tell him that he isn't aware of. Jesus says as much, doesn't he? He. He tells us not to be like the pagans when we pray, using empty words and trying to pile Words upon words upon words. Why did he say that? Because our Father in heaven knows what we need before we ask Him. So why ask Him? We can't fool God, nor does God. And it's not like God has like this empty place in his heart. Like, like, you know, a child would come and say, well, why did God create everything? Well, he was lonely. No he wasn't. God doesn't have just this empty place in his heart where he wants us. Let me rephrase that. Where he needs us to come and pray to Him. I've had multiple conversations about prayer over the past couple weeks. One of them was my children. And we were talking about prayer. And we don't pray because God needs us to pray. Pray. We pray because we need prayer. I can't make God better. I can't fill him or give him anything. He has no needs. He's already good, he's already great. Why would he ever listen to me? He's determined to accomplish all of his plans. So how could I possibly influence or change his mind? I hope by this point that I've dragged you in and tied you up with this problem. Now let's try to solve it. The solution is twofold. First, God is a God of love. And because we know that and we say it all the time, we actually don't understand the implications of what that means. He is a God in relationship and his relationship is one of love. God is not an equation. He's not a robot. He's not like a Spock or Data. He is a God who relates. He is a God who loves. He has revealed himself as a God in relationship with Himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And this is hard for us to understand. At least it is for me. We only know love and relationship through our experience of need, right? I need other people. God does not need. And yet he relates. God just is love. He is in an eternal relationship. And the difference that God as love makes is between God being an egotistical, cold hearted tyrant, completely undeserving of our worship and adoration, and God being a sovereign king who adopts his enemies as sons, who pours out his unending loving kindness upon them and thereby demonstrates that he alone is fully worthy and deserving of our adoration, worship and praise. You see, when we just look at God through these theological truths and create the problem, we're actually overlooking the heart of God and who he truly is. Because you can't reduce him to a bunch of truths that you can put in an equation and get the true outcome so is that it? God just. God just being patient with me. He's being kind with me. He's so gracious to hear my prayers, and he's just up there enduring them. Oh, it's about time for Ryan to pray to keep his family safe. That's good, because there is going to be a wreck a mile up ahead. And if he hadn't prayed. No, that is not how it works. It seems like Scripture paints a larger picture of prayer.
The prayers of a righteous man avail much. James, chapter 5:16. Jesus says, Whatever you ask in My name, you will receive. He says it multiple places throughout the Gospel. Elijah prayed. There were three years of drought, and they prayed again and it rained. It would seem to me when I read Scripture that prayer does something. My problem arises more from the other side of the biblical picture of prayer, that when people pray, God moves. When people pray, God doesn't just listen, but he acts. The power of prayer is mysterious, but it's true. God is moved by our prayers to act upon our behalf. How does that work? In my efforts to understand prayer and the theological truths that I see presented in Scripture and the conundrum, the problem that I get tangled up in, the Lord led me to a book about prayer by Em Bounds. It's fat, all right. And I've only read about 30 pages of it, because in those 30 pages, I found an answer. E.M. Bounds was a chaplain in the Confederate army from Missouri, and he wrote treatises on articles on prayer. And I'm going to read you this paragraph.
He says, “Prayer puts God to work. God has, of his own prompting, placed Himself under the law of prayer. He has obliged Himself to answer the prayers of the saints. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby he will do things through saints as they pray, which he would not otherwise do. Prayer is a specific divine appointment, an ordinance of heaven, whereby God purposes to carry out his gracious will on earth and to accomplish his plan of salvation. When we say that prayer puts God to work, it is simply to say that the saints have it in their power by prayer to move God to work in his own way among people, in a way which he would not work in if those prayers had not been made. Thus, while prayer moves God to work, at the same time God puts our prayers into action.”
Let me sum that up for you. God has so designed our relationship with him that prayer matters. They make a difference. And all of this does not contradict or undermine his sovereignty, his rule over creation. This I find astounding. I find it magnificent, and I find it Beautiful. It motivates me to pray because I know I have a sovereign God. And I know that my prayers, if they're not in his will, he overlooks them. It's not as if this was really what I had in mind for you today, Ryan. But because you prayed this other thing, it's ruined. Praise God. I can't do that. There's so much comfort in praying when you understand this. There's so much motivation to pray to God because He listens to you, because that's the way he designed it. So what kind of God does this? A God who wants to have true, meaningful relationships with his creatures, with his people, with his children. And so you can grow in prayer in your relationship with the Lord. And. And through prayer, you grow closer to God because you understand him better. How many of you can love your spouse without spending time with Him? When you fell in love, you didn't want to spend a minute away from. And every minute you were away from them, you thought about them. How can we love God when we don't communicate to Him? When we don't spend time with Him? It's impossible. This is the greatest motivation to pray, but I'm going to give you a few others.
First is God's character. Psalm 145. We read. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. And his greatness is unsearchable. There are three greats there. Great, great, great. God is great. And it's not just talking about how big he is. It's talking about his moral character. It's talking about his quality. He is a great God. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. I could spend an entire sermon on just those three verses. But let me say this. You are praying to a great God. A merciful God, a gracious God, a God who's slow to anger. A God who is abounding in steadfast love. A God who is good to all. Why wouldn't you want to talk with Him? Why wouldn't you want to go spend time with him? The secret to success in the Christian life is prayer. Prayer is the secret sauce to having a successful Christian life. The weakest child of God becomes the strongest when in prayer. The lowliest in the kingdom of God becomes the mightiest in prayer because of who you are praying to. In Psalm 145, verse 18, it says, the Lord is near to all who call upon him to all who call on him in truth. That, honestly is a definition of prayer for me. God promises to be near to you when you call on him in truth. Why can't I feel the presence of God? How much time are you spending in prayer? No, this is also a promise. No prayer goes unheard, unheeded or unwelcomed by our Father. How many of you were shooed away by a parent? God will never shoo you away. How many of you went unheard? When asking for something or sharing something, God will always hear you. We all say that we believe that prayer is effective, that it will accomplish much. But we still have a feeling that when a man is praying, he's doing nothing. Like prayer is the last option. Like, while I'm praying, I don't feel like anything's actually being accomplished. And so this feeling makes us give an undue importance to work. As if I can accomplish more without prayer than God can accomplish in me in prayer. Martin Luther, he said, there is so much for me to do each day that I must spend the first four hours in prayer. We hurry over prayer because we don't know how to spend time with God. There is no voice crying to God that goes unheard or unheeded. Every voice that calls upon the name of God is heard. Every single one. That is a promise, whether you feel like it or not. Just two more.
The other part of God's character, that God is eternal. We may not think that that has anything to do with prayer, but it does. God shapes the world through our prayers. He listens. He does things through praying that we would not do otherwise. And prayers are deathless. Prayers are deathless. The lips that other them may be closed in death. The soul that pours forth. The prayer may no longer be living in the land where you pray, but the prayers that come from them live on before God's throne in heaven. God's heart is set upon them. Prayers outlive the lives of those who pray them. They outlive a generation. They outlive an age. They outlive a world. The prayers of God's people live on forever in the heart of God. When the world passes away, the time that you spent in prayer with God will remain.
And finally, think about God's willingness to answer your prayers. That we have a Father in heaven who's sovereign over everything, who is working to accomplish his purposes and his will on this earth. And he's willing to answer your prayer. It reminds me of the passage where the Father comes to Jesus and His Son is Sick, probably due to demonic activity. And he says, lord, if you will, you can heal him. And Jesus is like, if I will? What do you mean, if I will? Of course I will. Of course I want to. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Matthew, chapter seven. Starting in verse nine, Jesus is teaching. Or which one of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you, then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask him? When I say that nothing will be accomplished for the kingdom of God apart from prayer, I don't just say that because I want to see the Kingdom of God come to Centralia. I also say that because I want to grow in my life. And I want you to grow in your life and your connection with God. Because the truth of the matter is, I believe we as a church have an opportunity to plead with God to do great and wonderful things. And all we have to do, ask him. God is waiting and willing. He will accomplish his will irregardless. But he is not an equation. He is not a computer. He responds to the cries of his children.
Let's pray. Father, creator of the universe, the high king in heaven, whose counsel will stand. We are humbled that we can even address you. We are grateful that you've called us out of this world, that you've made us your children by the blood of Jesus and the work and power of your Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and make us alive with him. Father, would you impress it upon us to pray? Would you call us out from the hurriedness and busyness of this world to spend time with you in prayer? Oh, Lord, accomplish your purposes in us and through us. I pray that you do these things for your glory and the praise and worship and adoration and wonderment of your people. Amen.
You have an opportunity to pray this morning. I call it doing business with God. Because the truth is, all of us have something to pray about. And if you don't think you do, you need to open your eyes. There are so many needs just in this room alone, let alone the broken and lost and dying world that exists outside those doors. So perhaps the prayer you need to pray is to ask God to forgive you for not praying, for not having your eyes open to see the needs of others. Perhaps you know exactly what you need to pray for. You're gonna have an opportunity to do that. It also could be that you feel shy and timid to pray. So I would encourage you to go to another, maybe your Sunday school teacher, maybe a deacon, maybe someone in the congregation that you respect. You're welcome to come to me in the front and ask us to pray with you. When God's people pray together, he listens.