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We are in our series
called SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE. I believe with all my
heart that the kingdom of
God
and the church should be IRRESISTIBLE. Church
should be a strategic group of IRRESISTIBLE
ENVIRONMENTS – irresistible children’s ministries,
youth ministries, adult ministries, praise/worship,
teaching, etc. Jesus was IRRESISTIBLE. Every
place he would go, he strategically made irresistible
environments for people to enjoy and that allowed him to
minister to them and for them to enter the kingdom.
Jesus said,
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[John 12:32]
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will DRAW
ALL MEN unto me.
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Jesus was
IRRESISTIBLE when he was on the earth and even more
IRRESISTIBLE after his resurrection. More people
are Christians today than ever in history. Everyday, the
kingdom
of God is increasing and filling the earth just as
Daniel said it would (Dan 2:34-45, 44). I want us to see
that no matter what we hear the doom and gloomers
saying, the kingdom of
God
is winning the battle against the kingdom of darkness.
Jesus said he would draw (drag) all men to
himself. No one is immune to the pulling power of Jesus
– NO ONE! I know that is true.
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What we do to set up
strategic environments for the kingdom is the most
important thing that we can do. Here is why. We are all
products of our environments. Put a group of teens in a
rock concert and that environment captures them. Put
that same group in a strategically designed environment
set for praise and worship to God and they are captured
by that environment. There is nothing more important
that any of us can do than to strategically make this
place irresistible. That way when children, teens,
adults, or anyone comes in they enjoy it and are drawn
into the kingdom. Jesus wants his church to create
IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS.
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I want to talk today
about the IRRESISTIBLE LIFE. Jesus had an
IRRESISTIBLE LIFE.
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John 1:4-5 In
him was LIFE, and that LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF
MEN. The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it.
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Notice how the Bible
relates LIFE and LIGHT. Jesus was an
IRRESISTIBLE LIFE because of the LIGHT he
was. We understand that he was not a literal light
walking around. Yet, his LIFE was THE LIGHT of
men.
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I know that the life of
Jesus was irresistible, but I want to talk about your
life, my life, and every life in the kingdom. The Bible
says that we are his body. We are his hands, feet,
mouth, arms, his heart, etc. We are to be like him, so
if his life was a light, then our lives are also lights.
One reason that the kingdom of
God
was for thousands of years and is today SIMPLY
IRRESISTIBLE is the radiant lives of the people in
the kingdom. It has not only been the life of Jesus.
Jesus said,
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[Matthew 5:14]
"You are THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. A city on a hill
CANNOT be hidden.
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Jesus compared our lives
to light also except he said that we are the
light (Strong’s #5457, phos – luminousness)
of the world. You are THE LIGHT, not “a
light.” You are it. There is not another light.
The kingdom and the church is God’s plan A, plan B, plan
C, etc. It is his only plan to bring light to this world.
Can you dig that? You are the light of the world
(kosmos – Strong’s #2889 – arrangement, i.e.
decoration). You are the light to society’s
arrangement – environment. Jesus compared what the
church does for the world to what the sun does for the
planet. The earth must have the sun to flourish. Without
the sun, there is darkness. In the same way, the world
must have the kingdom of
God
to flourish. Without the kingdom, there is darkness. Our
lives – our lights (phos) – are SIMPLY
IRRESISTIBLE.
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Jesus strategically
places a church in a region to bring light – phos
– to that region. We are a phos to this region.
We are here because God has placed us here just as he
placed the sun for this planet. This region needs us.
That is what Jesus designed his church to be. Jesus said
that when we do church correctly, we are like a huge
city on a hill that CANNOT BE HIDDEN. You are
irresistible. Do you know how many visitors New York
City had in 2003? 37.8 million people visited New York
City from all over the world.
Do you know how many people live in the NYC, Manhattan,
and Bronx area? About 11 million live there.
Judy and I went to NYC several years ago. It is an
awesome city. We stopped along the interstate and looked
at the Statue of Liberty and at New York City. It was
irresistible. You do know that many of the immigrants
that came to America came through New York. Perhaps your
ancestors came through there. Jesus said he would draw
all men. We had to go into that city. We got lost and
that was not good, but looking at the city was an
incredible experience. Isn’t that the way church should
be? People should look at it and then it should pull
them in. God designed his church and kingdom to be
incredible. It is to be SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE.
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If that is true and I am
part of the phos of the world then why am I not
“drawing” more people to the kingdom of
God?
Why is Life Gate not doing better at this? Why are you
not doing better at this? You invite people all the
time. Right? Why don’t they come? Well, Jesus said that
it is because I have put my light under a bushel.
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Matthew 5:15-16
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a
bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto
all that are in the house. LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE
BEFORE MEN, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.
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Jesus changed gears a
little by going from the phos great light that we
are as the church, to a single candle – (luchnos
– Strong’s #3088) meaning a portable lamp used in a
room in a house. Instead of positioning the light so it
can give light to my room, we place a bushel or
basket over it.
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Jesus said that God
designed us to light a room. When you walk into a room,
something lights up. I remember a true funny story. A
man and woman were married and she attended our church,
but he did not. One dark night he got out of bed and
said a few choice words after stumbling over something
in the floor and hurting his toe. He yelled, “Turn the
light on!” She said, “I am a light.” He said, “Then open
your mouth so that I can see.”
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There is a lot of truth
there. The Bible tells the story about Jesus being at
the house of Mary and Martha. Mary and others sat and
listened as Jesus opened his mouth and became the light
that God designed him to be.
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Luke 10:39 And
she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus'
feet, and heard his word.
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You may remember the
story. Martha became aggravated with Mary because she
would not help take care of the guests. Here is what
Jesus said.
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Luke 10:41-42
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "YOU ARE WORRIED
AND UPSET ABOUT MANY THINGS, but only one thing is
needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not
be taken away from her."
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People are worried
and upset about many things. But, what they need is
for someone to open their mouth and let their light
shine. They need someone to take the bushel off, lift
the light high, and give them what is better.
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Jesus said that we have
IRRESISTIBLE LIVES when we LET OUR LIGHTS
SHINE. So, what is your light?
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I began to think about
that thought. I realized something. There is one thing
that I do that I cannot ever remember failing to be
SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE when I took the opportunity to
“unbushel” it. That one thing is when I have gotten to
share what God has shown me about the eternal kingdom of
God.
I thought back to when I first came to this area. I
would sit around tables with people who would have me
over. We would talk and eventually I took the bushel off
and shared with them deeper things about the eternal
kingdom of God.
You might say, “Well, Delbert, you share about the
kingdom of God
every week.” No, I really do not, at least, not to the
extent that I am capable.
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I think about some of
the young people who we raised under this ministry and
have now moved away to other regions following their
dreams. They have all had difficulty finding a church
where they can truly lock in. That may sound like a bad
thing, but they heard a truth about the everlasting
kingdom and now they just will not settle for just any
teaching called the gospel.
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Why have so many people
stayed with me for twenty years? It is because of what I
taught them about God’s eternal kingdom. I think about
some of you. Your life has changed over the past few
short years that you have known me. I had the
opportunity to “unbushel” my light and tell you in depth
about God’s eternal kingdom. It is a powerful and
IRRESISTIBLE message. Once heard and seen in the
scriptures, a life changes forever. Those of you, who
know what I am talking about, please raise your hand to
verify what I said.
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The remainder of us may
not understand what I am saying. You are probably
saying, “Well, if it is so powerful and IRRESISTIBLE
then tell me.” I would love to and plan to next week in
the lesson called IRRESISTIBLE TRUTH. Today, I am
attempting to make a point. It is when I “unbushel” my
light, and LET IT SHINE, that I see
IRRESISITIBLE results. It is then that I have an
IRRESISTIBLE LIFE.
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What is your LIGHT?
You too have something that makes your life
irresistible. You are a light also. Jesus said you are.
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Let me tell you
a story that I read about a man named Edward Kimball. He
was a normal man. He worked a normal job. He attended a
normal church. He taught a normal Bible study class. One
day a young man named Dwight visited his class. One
Saturday as Ed was preparing his Sunday school lesson,
Ed felt a burden to visit the shoe store where Dwight
worked and “unbushel” his light by sharing the gospel
with that young man. That day a Dwight L Moody
surrendered his life to Jesus. Dwight L. Moody
eventually became a great evangelist in the US and
England. God drew and saved thousands of people through
Moody’s light. Moody also began the Moody Bible
Institute that continues to minister today. Moody
awakened an evangelistic zeal in the heart of another
“normal” man named Fredrick B. Meyer who brought to
Christ a “normal” man named J. Wilbur Chapman who
brought to Christ a “normal” man named Billy Sunday.
Perhaps you have heard of Billy Sunday. He was another
great evangelist who shined his light who, without the
aid of microphones, TV, or radio preached to over 100
million people.. Billy Sunday held a revival in
Charlotte, N.C. There, a group of local men became so
enthusiastic that they planned another evangelistic
campaign, bringing a man named Mordecai Hamm to town to
preach. During Hamm’s revival, another “normal” young
man named Billy Graham heard the gospel and gave his
life to Christ. I do not need to explain what Billy
Graham accomplished. for
others to come into the kingdom then All that
happened because a man named Edward Kimball LET
his light shine.
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My point is, who knows
what will happen if you let your life shine. God has
given you something that causes you to light up a room.
What is it? It may not be to teach a Sunday school
class. It probably is not to preach. BUT, IT IS
SOMETHING. Something about you is SIMPLY
IRRESISTIBLE. What is it? I want you to think. What
is it that you do that draws people to you? My wife is a
great counselor. She is a very wise woman and enjoys
talking with and helping people. I get amazed sometimes
at the light that comes out her mouth.
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The Bible tells us about
a woman named Tabitha who shined her life by doing good
and helping people.
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Acts 9:36 In
Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when
translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and
helping the poor.
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She influenced many
lives with her goodness. She enjoyed doing things for
people and because of her goodness, many were drawn into
the kingdom.
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The Bible tells us about
a man named Joseph whose light was encouraging people.
He did this so well that people began calling him
Barnabas – Son of Encouragement.
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Acts 4:36
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called
Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement),
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Barnabas was always
bringing someone into the kingdom. Did you know that
Barnabas encouraged the apostle Paul to do his ministry?
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The Bible tells us about
a Roman soldier named Cornelius. He had a gift of
giving.
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Acts 10:2 He
and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave
generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
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He brought in his
relatives and friends. He let his light shine AND
created an IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENT where the
Holy Spirit fell.
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Acts 10:24 The
following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was
expecting them and had called together his relatives and
close friends.
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So, as we LET OUR
LIGHTS SHINE, and set up strategic environments, the
Holy Spirit comes and brings people into the kingdom.
The kingdom of God is to be SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE.
We are to create IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS that
allow the Holy Spirit to work and Jesus to draw all men
into the kingdom. God made you an IRRESISTIBLE LIFE.
There is a light in you that is IRRESISTIBLE.
What is it? Is it helping people, encouraging people, or
maybe giving? It is SOMETHING and it is when we take the
bushel off that we become SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE.
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