THE STORE IV

Provision

2 Peter 1:2-3

² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

There Is A War Over Resources

Judges 6:2-6

² and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. ³ So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. ⁴ Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. ⁵ For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number, and they would enter the land to destroy it. ⁶ So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

Gideon Had To Get Aggressive

I.                   LEVELS OF PROVISION

1.     The Basics / Needs

Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

2.     Abundance /More than Enough

Psalm 23:4-5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

                        Deuteronomy 8:6-19

                  ⁶ “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁰ When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. ¹¹ “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—¹⁷ then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

2 Corinthians 9:8

⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work

II.                TIMING TO PROVISION

1. It does not take long to go from just enough to more than enough

Matthew 14:19-21

¹⁹ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. ²⁰ And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. ²¹ And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

                 

                        2 Kings 7:1-8

Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ” ² So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” ³ Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now, therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” ⁵ And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” ⁷ Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives. ⁸ And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

III.             KEYS TO OVERFLOW

1.     Have Faith for Overflow

Psalms 37:25

I have been young, and now am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.

Psalm 115:14

¹⁴ The Lord shall increase you more and more, You and your children.

2.     Practice Principals Of Good Stewardship

Luke 16:10-12

¹⁰ He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. ¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

3.     Become Generous

Proverbs 11:24-25

²⁴ There is one who scatters, yet increases more, And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. ²⁵ The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

           

Answer Key: Resources; Enough, Practice; Generous

THE STORE

(Part III)

Romans 8:32

³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

I.                   THE CROSS FURNISHED THE STORE

Isaiah 53:3-5

³ He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. ⁴ Surely He has borne our grief’s And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed.

Griefs – Sicknesses and suffering, weakness

Sorrows - Pain

Transgressions – crimes, wrong, legal matters against us

Iniquities – punishment, sin, guilt, generational transfers

Peace – Shalom (Nothing Missing and Nothing Broken)

The Lord on the cross took upon himself not only the consequences of sickness (astheneías) but sicknesses (nósous) themselves, both being basically the result of man’s disobedience to God

II.                PHYSICAL HEALING IS IN THE STORE

1.     Remember the store is for us

a.      There is no one sick in Heaven

b.     In the millennium, the leaves of the trees heal the nations

Revelation 22:2

² In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations

c.      No sickness in the new heaven and new earth

Revelation 21:4

“…there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

2.     The Cross furnished the store with forgiveness and healing

Psalm 103:1-3

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: ³ Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases

Mark 2:9-10

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all…”

Mark 6:56

⁵⁶ Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well (sozo).

The word well is the Greek word sozo. It’s the same word used in “Romans 10:9-10.  It is the same word translated “well”  Sozo  Other translations of Sozo are Mark :23 (healed); Mark 16:16 (saved); Luke 8:36 (healed); Acts 2:21 (saved); Acts 14:9 (healed); Ephesians 2:8 (saved); James 5:15 (save); Mark 5:34 (Made whole);

Sin and sickness are from the same tree and both are enemies to God:

No one would ever say:

a.      Maybe it isn’t God’s will to save you

b.     Perhaps your sin is for the glory of God

c.      Maybe God is using this sin to chastise you

d.     Be patient in your sin until God wills to save you

e.      The day of conversion is past

If we can’t say this with forgiveness of sin we should not say this for the healing of diseases

3.     We must believe and content for healing

4.     More Evidence

Matthew 4:23-24

²³ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. ²⁴ Then His fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

Matthew 8:16-17

¹⁶ When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

Matthew 10:1

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Luke 6:17-19

¹⁷ And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸ as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. ¹⁹ And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.

Luke 13:10-17

¹⁰ Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. ¹² But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” ¹³ And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. ¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” ¹⁵ The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” ¹⁷ And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

Luke 13:31-32

³¹ On that very day, some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.” ³² And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Acts 8:6-7

⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

Acts 19:11-12

¹¹ Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

III.             GO SHOPPING

1.     Believe and Receive

Mark 11:24

²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

2.     Walk in and Release to Others

2 Corinthians 1:4

⁴ who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Answer Key: HEALING, forgiveness, Believe

THE STORE

Part II

Laying Hold of God’s Resources

Psalm 23:5

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

I.                   LAWS OF THE KINGDOM

1.     We must _Understand _ what’s available

Hebrews 11:6

⁶ But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Matthew 6:8-10

⁸ “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. ⁹ In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ¹⁰Your kingdom come. You will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:18

¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2.     We must _Press_ into it

Matthew 11:12

¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

Luke 16:16

¹⁶ “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

Luke 18:1-8

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, ² saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. ³ Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ ⁴ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, ⁵ yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. ⁷ And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? ⁸ I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Matthew 15:21-28

²¹ Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” ²³ But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” ²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

II.                OUR SPIRITUAL INHERITANCE

Ephesians 3:1-13

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. ¹¹ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ¹² that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

1.     We have everything we need already (The Store is Fully Furnished)

2.     We were chosen before the foundation of the World (We were chosen to Shop)

3.     We are made holy and without blame in Christ (We belong) We were predestined to be adopted as sons (Daddy owns the store)

4.     We are accepted in the beloved (He likes us)

5.     We have redemption through his blood

6.     Made known the mystery of His Will

7.     Have Obtained an inheritance 

8.     Predestined to Purpose

9.     Sealed with the Holy Spirit

III.             MOTIVE OF THE SHOPKEEPER

1.     The good pleasure of His Will

2.     The riches of His Grace

3.     His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself

4.     For the praise of His Glory

IV.             WHY WE Don't SHOP MORE

1.     Ignorance

2.     Serpent Talk 

Answer Key: Understand. Press, inheritance 

 THE HEART OF A LEADER

As leaders, our heart (motives) are extremely vital.  We cannot just be concerned about what we do but we must consider our motivation for what we do. Let’s consider a few proper leadership motivations.

I.                   Surrendered Life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

¹ For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: ³ If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. ^….

⁹ Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  ¹¹ Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. …¹³ For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, they were all dead: ¹⁵ And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

1.     We should always desire something more from above. (1-5)

2.     We should love the honor that comes from God alone. (v. 9)

Labor - philotiméomai; loving or fond of honor, ambitious; to make something an ambition, aspire

Ø Romans 15:20

Ø 2 Corinthians 5:9

3. We should labor to please him. Accepted Euárestos - to please.

4. We must remember the judgment seat of Christ.

v It’s a judgment for Believers. Matthew 25:21

v It’s Both Judgment and reward. John 5:24; 2 Corinthians 5:10

5. We need to consider the terror of God and persuade men. (v. 11)

6. We should be constrained by the love of Christ. (v. 14)

7. We must live unto the one who died for us. (v. 15)

II.        Endurance for Him

            2 Corinthians 4:5-12

⁵ For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. ⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. ¹¹ For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. ¹² So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

III.      Heart for the Harvest 

1.     Harvest is seasonal – You don’t determine when it comes

Genesis 8:22

²² While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

2.     Harvest must be recognized

John 4:35

³⁵ Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

3.     Harvest is not the time for sleep

Proverbs 10:5           

⁵ He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

4.     God is the LORD of THE HARVEST – He loves fruit.

Matthew 9:37-38

³⁷ Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

5.     Harvest needs all hands on board –

Matthew 9:37-38

³⁷ Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

6.     There is a need for urgency in Harvest

      Mark 4:29

²⁸ For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. ²⁹ But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.