Call on the Lord

Ever since Adam and Eve chose to act independently of God, their descendants have been afflicted with this most deadly of all behaviors. You know, God was present in the Garden. All Eve and Adam had to do was to go to Him and ask if eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would be good for them. They chose rather to use their own judgment, based on what the serpent had told them.

This is my first Sunday back in the pulpit since the fall that broke my right femur. That was on Sunday, 9/13/2009. The fall was on the stairs in my home after returning from the morning service. I am in pretty good shape now, although I am using a cane to prevent falling while I am mending.

Stan Josephsen and Lloyd Darlington have filled in with preaching during those five months. From what people told me, they did an outstanding job. Our Church Council continued with the business of the church in my absence, including the annual business meeting. My thanks go out to Stan, Lloyd, the Council members, and the congregation, all who steadfastly continued with the message of righteous behavior we have preached in Poway for over thirty years. Thanks also to John Arterberry who fashioned a chair so I can sit behind the pulpit while I am preaching.

The burden of the morning has to do with the historical error of mankind. The error is that of acting independently of the wisdom and will of Christ. It is as true of Christians as it is of non-Christians. We simply are not aware, many of us, that Christ wants to direct our lives. We are seeking to please Christ without knowing exactly what He desires of us as an individual.

I am persuaded that most Christians do not realize they can conduct all the aspects of their daily life in the Presence of the Lord Jesus. When the Apostle Paul urged us to pray without ceasing, he did not mean that twenty-four hours of every day we are to beseech Christ to keep our ninety-five year-old aunt from dying. He was speaking rather of living our life in the Presence of Christ.

How do we "pray without ceasing"? We start each morning by committing ourselves to Jesus, asking Him to get us out of bed on time. At my age, one needs supernatural help to get up in the morning!

Then there is the decision, for many of us, of what clothes to wear. Then the decision of what to eat and how much to eat (if we have food). How many cups of coffee to drink. Perhaps helping the children off to school. During the first hour we may have made a hundred decisions.

Now, there are two ways in which we can make a decision. We can bring our desires, experience, and knowledge into play and do what we think is the best. Or we can look up to Jesus and ask His assistance as we bring our desires, experience, and knowledge into play.

Did you know the Book of Proverbs advises us not to lean to our own understanding but to acknowledge Christ in all our ways? This is what it means to pray without ceasing.

Do you know what happens to you if you persevere in this manner of living? Eventually you can say with Paul, "It is not I who am living but Christ who is living in me." To live by the Life of Jesus Christ is our very highest goal.

What kind of world would this be if every person looked to Jesus for every decision he or she made? What would have happened in the Garden of Eden if Adam and Eve had looked to God to see if they were supposed to eat the forbidden fruit?

The American ideal is the self-possessed individual who is "in control." This may be the American ideal but it is not God’s ideal. The self-directed person is a loose cannon in the universe. This is why the world is in such an uproar.

Having been a Christian for 65 years, I am fairly well acquainted with the manner in which churches and denominations operate. It is very seldom that one hears of a church or a denomination waiting to hear from God before it embarks on a plan. The assumption is that we are to go into all the world and build Christian churches.

You may notice, in Matthew, that Christ did not charge the multitude of believers and disciples to "go into all the world." He spoke to eleven chosen individuals whom He named Apostles.

And Christ did not command them to build Christian churches, but to make disciples. There is a vast difference. One can build a church that has few or no disciples in it. A disciple is someone who denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Christ at all times. How many genuine disciples are there in your church?

I do not know how often the missionaries of today hear from the Spirit of God as the Apostle Paul did. I think in many instances we are working for Christ instead of obeying Christ and following His directions.

I believe the Lord Jesus has new and surprising things for us today, if we will get our eyes off what has been and just look to Jesus. Maybe–just-maybe–He has some ideas that will more than conquer the spiritual darkness into which we are sinking in America.

A corollary of the willingness of the believers to seek to work for Christ instead of listening to what Jesus actually wants, is the practice of looking for spiritual formulas for success. We have arthritis, so we do this. We need money, so we do this. We want to save our marriage, so we do this. We need healing, so we take this approach.

Believe me, we are entering the hour of darkness in which no man can work. In order to survive and help others we absolutely must "die in the Lord." Only the wisdom and power of Jesus Christ will be able to operate in the coming days.

Therefore, when you are facing a need, do not try to use a formula for success. It may have worked at one time. It will not work in the future. Check out the eighteenth Psalm and see what King David did when he was in trouble.

In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. (Psalms 18:6)

"I called to the Lord"! Can you hear this? David called to the Lord. He did not attempt to wait for the sound of marching in the mulberry trees or do anything else that had worked in time past. David called to the Lord.

In my experience, this concept is violated continually as Christians seek to employ some recipe for spiritual success. In fact, people travel to locations where God has moved in time past, hoping that somehow God will repeat what He has done before.

God does not repeat Himself, ordinarily. But people want to "work the moves." They would rather water the plants in the sanctuary, or organize a parade, or do whatever, in order to get God to move. They may use a computer to find out what parts of the world need evangelism.

All of these religious efforts are attempts to find something that will "work." Why don’t we quit doing this and call on the Lord? God is not broke. Jesus is in control. He is not confused or impressed with the vain boasting of today’s political leaders.

If you want to be shocked, read the rest of Psalms Eighteen and see what took place when David called on the Lord. These kinds of results are not obtained when we assume from reading the Bible what Christ wants, and then set out to accomplish it with money and human talent and effort.