You can watch us live each week!
http://www.lmcigreenville.org/watch-live/
Service Times
Sunday AM: 11am
Sunday PM: 6pm
Wednesday: 7pm
www.lmcigreenville.org
Worship Cast License #: 6786
CCLI #: 3105920
You can watch us live each week!
http://www.lmcigreenville.org/watch-live/
Service Times
Sunday AM: 11am
Sunday PM: 6pm
Wednesday: 7pm
www.lmcigreenville.org
Worship Cast License #: 6786
CCLI #: 3105920
LUKE 18:1-8 AND HE SPAKE A PARABLE UNTO THEM TO THIS END, THAT MEN OUGHT ALWAYS TO PRAY, AND NOT TO FAINT.
SAYING, THERE WAS IN A CITY A JUDGE, WHICH FEARED NOT GOD, NEITHER REGARDED MAN:
AND THERE WAS A WIDOW IN THAT CITY; AND SHE CAME UNTO HIM,SAYING, AVENGE ME OF MINE ADVERSARY.
AND HE WOULD NOT FOR A WHILE: BUT AFTERWARD HE SAID WITHIN HIMSELF, THOUGH I FEAR NOT GOD, NOR REGARD MAN:
YET BECAUSE THIS WIDOW TROUBLETH ME, I WILL AVENGE HER, LEST BY HER CONTINUAL COMING SHE WEARY ME.
AND THE LORD SAID, HEAR WHAT THE UNJUST JUDGE SAITH.
AND SHALL NOT GOD AVENGE HIS OWN ELECT, WHICH CRY DAY AND NIGHT UNTO HIM, THOUGH HE BEAR LONG WITH THEM?
I TELL YOU THAT HE WILL AVENGE THEM SPEEDILY. NEVERTHELESS WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMETH, SHALL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH.
WE CAN SEE SEE THE CHARACTERICS OF THIS WOMAN OF FAITH, THAT REWARDS HER WITH WHAT SHE DESIRES.
SHE PRAYS WITH FAITH AND COURAGE AND DOESNT FAINT.
FAINT, GREEK WORD EKKAKEO – SHE DOESNT TURN OUT TO BE A COWARD, SHE DOESNT LOSE HER COURAGE,SHE DIDNT FAINT, WHEN SHE KEPT HEARING NO, NO, NO, NO.
THE TRAIL DIDNT STOP HER, EVERY ONE KNEW THE REPUTATION OF THIS JUDGE, BUT SHE DIDNT GROW WEARY.
SHE WAS BOLD IN HER ASKING, ASKING, ASKING AND ASKING.
SHE KNEW IN THE PROCESS, SHE WOULD FIND A YES IN ALL THOSE NO’S.
SHE KNEW THIS WAS A WICKED JUDGE, BUT HER WILL WAS STRONGER THAT HIS.
SHE MADE THE ONE THAT WAS TRYING TO WEAR HER DOWN, SUBMIT TO HER REQUEST.
NOW JESUS SAID YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS NOT LIKE THIS WICKED JUDGE, HE IS JUST AND WILL AVENGE HIS OWN ELECT, THOUGH HE BEAR LONG WITH THEM WHICH CRY DAY AND NIGHT, WHEN HE BRINGS JUSTICE TO THEIR CRY IT WILL BE SPEEDILY.
ELECT MEANS CHOSEN, A COVENANT PEOPLE, A PEOPLE WHO BY CHOICE ACCEPTED MY COVENANT. KINGDOM CHILDREN, MY PEOPLE, WITH LEGAL RIGHTS TO MY PROMISES.
IN THIS PARABLE, JESUS PICTURES A WIDOW WOMAN WHO PRESENTED A LEGAL CASE TO THIS JUDGE.
FOR JUSTICE TO BE DONE, IT MUST BE ON LEGAL TERMS OR LEGAL GROUND. COVENANT PROMISES MUST BE FOUND, AND PRESENTED TO THE JUDGE.
1 JOHN 5:14,15 AND THIS IS THE CONFIDENCE THAT WE HAVE IN HIM, THAT, IF WE ASK ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE HEARETH US.
AND WE KNOW THAT HE HEAR US, WHATSOEVER WE ASK, WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE PETITIONS THAT WE DESIRED OF HIM.
HIS WILL IS HIS WORD, CONFIRMED TO US BY REVELATION, BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE LOGOS MADE RHEMA
WE MEDIATE, WE RELEASE OUR FAITH, WE BELIEVE, WE CONTINUE TO PRAY THE WORD.
THIS WOMAN KNEW HER GIVEN RIGHTS.
THIS WOMAN HAD PATIENCE.
THIS WOMAN HAD THE COURAGE TO NEVER QUIT.
THIS WOMAN KNEW THERE WAS A YES AND AMEN FOR HER.
THIS WOMAN WAS FAITH DRIVEN.
THE LORD SEARCHES THE EARTH TO FIND FAITH.
IF THOU CANST BELIEVE, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH.
PROVERBS 14:10 – THE HEART KNOWETH HIS OWN BITTERNESS; AND A STRANGER DOTH NOT INTERMEDDLE WITH HIS JOY.
BITTERNESS IS DEFINED AS ANGER, DISCONTENTMENT, HEAVINESS, CHAFE. CHAFE MEANS ANNOYED, IRRITATED.
EPHESIANS 4:31,32 – LET ALL BITTERNESS, AND WRATH, AND ANGER, AND CLAMOR, AND EVIL SPEAKING, BE PUT AWAY FROM YOU, WITH ALL MALICE: AND BE YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD FOR CHRIST’S SAKE HATH FORGIVEN YOU.
SO IT SEEMS, IN THESE VERSES, BITTERNESS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH UNFORGIVENESS.
IT IS STANGE TO ME THAT A WOMAN LIKE HANNAH COULD BE STRUGGLING WITH BITTERNESS:
I SAMUEL 1:10 – AND SHE WAS IN BITTERNESS OF SOUL, AND PRAYED UNTO THE LORD, AND WEPT SORE.
IF YOU RUN A WORD SEARCH, YOU WILL FIND THIS BITTERNESS IN HANNAH WAS THE SAME KIND OF BITTERNESS SCORNED IN EPHESIANS 4:31.
TO FIND OUT WHY HANNAH WAS BITTER, WE HAVE TO READ I SAMUEL 1:2-8 – AND HE (ELKANAH) HAD TWO WIVES; THE NAME OF THE ONE WAS HANNAH, AND THE NAME OF THE OTHER WAS PENINNAH: AND PENINNAH HAD CHILDREN BUT HANNAH HAD NO CHILDREN.
AND THIS MAN WENT UP OUT OF HIS CITY YEARLY TO WORSHIP AND TO SACRIFICE UNTO THE LORD OF HOSTS IN SHILOH.
AND WHEN THE TIME WAS THAT ELKANAH, OFFERED (WENT TO WORSHIP), HE GAVE PENINNAH HIS WIFE, AND TO ALL HER SONS AND DAUGHTERS, PORTIONS:
BUT TO HANNAH HE GAVE A WORTHY PORTION (WE COULD SAY A DOUBLE PORTION); FOR HE LOVED HANNAH: BUT THE LORD HAD SHUT UP HER WOMB.
AND HER ADVERSARY ALSO PROVOKED HER SORE (TORMENTED HER), FOR TO MAKE HER FRET, BECAUSE THE LORD HAD SHUT UP HER WOMB.
AND SHE DID SO YEAR BY YEAR, WHEN SHE WENT UP TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, SO SHE (PENINNAH PROVOKED HER); THEREFORE SHE WEPT AND DID NOT EAT.
THEN ELKANAH HER HUSBAND SAID TO HER, HANNAH, WHY WEEPEST THOU? AND WHY EATEST THOU NOT? AND WHY IS THY HEART GRIEVED? AM I NOT BETTER TO THEE THAN TEN SONS?
NEITHER OUR JOYS NOR OUR SORROWS CAN BE WHOLLY SHARED WITH ANOTHER; NO PERSON STANDS IN SUCH INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH US, OR CAN PUT THEMSELVES SO ENTIRELY IN OUR PLACE, AS WE FEEL WHAT WE FEEL.
THERE ARE MANY DARK SPOTS, MANY GRIEFS, OF WHICH OUR BEST FRIENDS KNOW NOTHING; THE SKELETON IS LOCKED IN THE CUPBOARD, SO-TO-SPEAK, AND NO ONE HAS THE KEY BUT WE ALONE.
BUT WE CAN TURN WTH CONFIDENCE TO JESUS WHO KNOWS US BEST, WHO WEPT HUMAN TEARS, AND BORE OUR SORROWS, AND WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE.
HE HAS TAKEN HIS HUMAN EXPERIENCE WITH HIM TO HEVEN. AND WHEN WE TAKE OUR FEELINGS AND HURTS TO THE LORD, AND BEGIN TO FORGIVE AND SURRENDER THAT THING THAT HAS WORKED ITSELF FROM UNFORGIVENESS TO BITTERNESS OF HEART, WHOLLY TO THE LORD, WE FIND JOY THAT, ALSO, NO ONE ELSE CAN SHARE.
HE IS NOT A STRANGER TO “GRIEF TURNED TO JOY.”
THERE IS A SAYING, “NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE SHOE PINCHES SO WELL AS HE THAT WEARS IT;” AND ANOTHER, “TO EVERYONE, HIS OWN CROSS SEEMS HEAVIEST.”
WHEN A PERSON’S MIND IS SENSITIVE IT IS EASILY DEPRESSED BY GRIEF; BUT WHEN IT IS ELATED BY JOY, IT SHOULD RECEIVE IT’S PLEASURE AND RELIEF WITHOUT ARROGANCE AND RUDENESS.
IN CHAPTER I OF Ist SAMUEL, WE FIND HANNAH PRAYING, AND VOWING TO TH LORD IF HE WOULD GIVE HER A SON, SHE WOULD GIVE THE CHILD TO THE LORD ALL HIS LIFE. SHE WAS PRAYING, WITH ONLY HER LIPS MOVING, BUT HER VOICE WAS NOT HEARD.
ELI, WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS INTOXICATED, TOLD HER TO QUIT DRINKING, BUT SHE ANSWERED THAT SHE HAD NEVER DRANK WINE NOR STRONG DRINK; THAT SHE WAS SORROWFUL IN SPIRIT.
SHE TOLD HIM SHE WAS NOT A WICKED WOMAN, BUT THAT SHE WAS POURING OUT HER SOUL BEFORE THE LORD.
ELI RESPONDE BY SAYING, “GO IN PEACE, AND MAY THE LORD OF ISRAEL GRANT YOUR PETITION WHICH YOU HAVE ASKED OF HIM.”
VERSE 20 – HANNAH BECAME PREGNANT AND IN DUE TIME BORE A SON AND NAMED HIM SAMUEL (HEARD OF THE LORD), BECAUSE, SHE SAID, I HAVE ASKED HIM OF THE LORD.
WHEN BITTERNESS SETS IN, IT IS SEEN AS A VIOLATION TO THE WAYS OF GOD, FOR GOD HAD A PLAN AND PURPOSE.
WHEN IN HER TROUBLE, HANNAH WAS LED TO PRAY FERVENTLY, AND HER PRAYER WAS ANSWERED: GRIEF AND SORROW AND BITTERNESS GAVE PLACE TO REJOICING. THE FAMILY WAS BENEFITTED; AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD WERE GREATLY BLESSED.
SO IN HIS WONDERFUL WORKING, GOD “TURNED THE CURSE INTO BLESSING”!!
*Part II coming soon.
JAMES 1:6-8 – BUT LET HIM ASK IN FAITH, NOTHING WAVERING. FOR HE THAT WAVERETH IS LIKE A WAVE OF THE SEA DRIVEN WITH THE WIND AND TOSSED.
FOR LET NOT THAT MAN THINK THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE ANYTHING OF THE LORD.
A DOUBLE MINDED MAN IS UNSTABLE IN ALL HIS WAYS.
PRAYER IS NOT REAL UNLESS IT IS THE EXPRESSION OF FAITH. IT MUST ISSUE FROM A “LIVING SOURCE WITHIN THE WILL,” AND BE INSPIRED BY PERFECT CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S READINESS TO HELP.
THERE IS SO MUCH UNBELIEF IN THIS DAY AND TIME ON THE SUBJECT OF PRAYER! THE SCIENTIFIC TONE-DOWN OF THIS AGE MERELY ALLOWS A MAN TO PRAY TO GOD , “IF THERE IS A GOD—–TO SAVE HIS SOUL,—– IF HE HAS A SOUL.”
AND THE FORCIBLE WORDS OF JAMES, IN THESE THREE VERSES, SUGGEST—-THAT STILL, IN THE CASE OF VERY MANY CHRISTIANS, AN IMPERFECT FAITH IN GOD’S READINESS TO RESPOND TO THEIR PRAYERS, IS ONE OF THE GREATEST DEFECTS OF THEIR SPIRITUAL LIVE.
WE OFTEN SPEAK OF EVIDENT ANSWERS TO PRAYERS AS UNUSUAL, AND —-WHEN THEY DO OCCUR—-AS REMARKABLE!!
THE GIFT OF WISDOM IS PROMISED ONLY TO HIM WHO ASKS IT WITH A STEADY FAITH, AND WHO MANIFESTS THE REALITY OF HIS FAITH BY A LIFE OF CONSISTENT PURPOSE.
GOD, OUR FATHER, DEMANDS THE CONFIDENCE OF HIS CHILDREN. “NOTHING DOUBTING” SHOULD BE THE CHRISTIAN’S MOTTO IN PRAYER. THE PETITIONS SHOULD NOT SHIFT BACKWARDS AND FORWARD BETWEEN FAITH AND DOUBT, LIKE A TUMBLING BILLOW OF THE SEA. HE MUST NOT SWING LIKE A PENDULUM BETWEEN CHEERFUL CONFIDENCE AND DARK SUSPICION.
IT MUST BE FIXED PERSUASION THAT GOD IS, AND THAT HE IS A HEARER OF PRAYER. WE MUST EXPECT ANSWER TO OUR REQUEST.
IT IS THE MEN AND WOMEN WITHIN WHOM FAITH IS THE DOMINATE POWER WHO TAKE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BY FORCE. GOD IS SIMPLICITY HIMSELF, AND HE GIVES WITH SIMPLICITY: SO HE HAS NO SYMPATHY WITH AN UNSTABLE DOUBLE MINDED SOUL.
A MIND THAT IS “WISHY-WASHY” IN IT’S CHOICE, WILL BE PRONE IN THE END TO FAIL IN BOTH OF THE PURPOSES BETWEEN WHICH IT HAS HESITATED.
IT IS LIKE A “SPLIT PERSONALITY,” PART OF HIM WANTS TO BELIEVE, WHILE PART OF HIM DOES NOT. HE IS UNRELIABLE ABOUT EVERYTHING HE THINKS, FEELS, AND DECIDES (V. 8).
TEMPORARY EMOTIONS ARE NOT RELIGION OR GODLINESS.
STEADFAST FAITH, AND THAT ALONE, WILL GIVE A MAN OR WOMAN, SINGLENESS OF EYE, MAKE HIM OR HER STRONG TO KEEP HOLD OF THE COVENANT, AND DRAW DOWN UPON HIM, THE RICHEST BLESSINGS OF GOSPEL GRACE.
THERE IS A SECRET TO CONTENTMENT. IT IS A RARE AND PRECIOUS CHRISTIAN GRACE.
IT IS A QUIET RESTFULNESS IN THE MIDST OF ALL KINDS OF CHANGING EVENTS.
IT IS A GRAND ACCOMPLISHMENT TO BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO, AND BEHAVE ONE’S SELF IN EVERY STATE OF FULLNESS OR NEED.
CHRIST IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN BRING US TO THIS PLACE OF CONTENTMENT.
HE ENABLES US TO LIVE IN FAITH, BELIEVING, THAT EVEN NOW, ALL THINGS ARE ORDERED WISELY AND KINDLY BY OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, THAT THEY ARE WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD NOT YET SEEN.
THEY ARE WORKING FOR US A MORE EXCEEDING AND ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY, SO WE LEARN TO BEAR THE PRESENT MYSTERY OF TRIAL, IN HOPE OF THE FUTURE REVELATION OF BLESSEDNESS.
CHRIST LEADS US TO LIVE IN THE SPIRITUAL.
THIS IS THE REAL SECRET.
EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING.
AT THEIR BEST, THEY WILL NOT SATISFY THE SOUL’S DEEP HUNGER.
WHILE WE LIVE IN THOSE CHANGES , WE ARE OFTEN DISAPPOINTED AND DISCONTENTED.
BUT BY RESTING IN GOD, WE WILL BE CONTENT IN EVERY VARIETY OF EARTHLY AFFAIRS.
PHILIPPIANS 4:19, 23 – BUT MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEED ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY BY CHRIST JESUS.
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL. AMEN.
