Good morning. (Read Matthew 5:14-16 “1”)
As we begin today, we are going to start a new series. We are all called to be lights in a dark world. So, for the next few weeks we will be examining these lamps, and learning a few things about them. Now, this is how the lamp is supposed to work. As we look at this lamp for the next few weeks, we will see some connection breakdowns and see why this lamp is not burning bright. Today, we will focus in on the main reason why this lamp is not working.
Before we begin, let’s open with a word of prayer
Over the next few weeks we are going to look at Eternal, Internal, and External connections with this lamp, but today we start with the Eternal connection. So, why is this lamp not working right?
In order to have an eternal connection, we must be Plugged Into The Source
So, the source is God, which means we need to look upward to see the eternal connection. Turn with me to John 15:1-8. Here in this passage we read about being connected to the source. Here in John 15:1-8 it says, “2”
Jesus wants to focus his followers on what it looks like to be connected at the source. The thing He wants us to get here, is that if we are going to be followers of His, if we want to experience the life He wants to give us, then we can cooperate with that by remaining in Him. He says it about 7 times in these 8 verses. Remain in me, in other words, stay hooked up, stay connected, don’t let your pipeline break, maintain communication.
How many of you have cable modem for the Internet? Well, a lot of people are still using the dial up stuff. Sometimes you get connected, sometimes you don’t, sometimes your connection is a bit slow, sometimes you even get booted off altogether. Well, people say that if we had cable, we’d be connected all the time. We would be faster and able to do a lot more. Well, Jesus is stressing that He wants the same kind of connection for us.
Notice it is a command—Remain, connect, abide in me. Do what you have to do in order to stay hooked up, make a choice to remain connected to the source.
That source is that vine is Jesus. The true vine, the real one. We try to hook into a lot of different things to find fulfillment and life, but Jesus is the only true source of life. In fact, in John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So there are many different things out there that people are trying to use as their source, but there is only one that will supply and eternal connection.
Here we see an expression of total dependence on God. In a way we see that we cannot accomplish the purpose of our lives without being hooked up to the source. It said, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” Branches don’t stay alive on their own, and a lamp does not burn without the source of power connected to it. If it’s not hooked up to the vine, it gets no nourishment, and it loses the ability to fulfill what it is meant to do, and that is to bear fruit. He’s pretty clear here, if you’re not hooked into Jesus, the true vine, you can’t bear fruit, your life is meaningless, you have no more purpose than a dead branch that’s headed for the fire.
Now as we look at he light, the purpose of the light is to bring light into the darkness. If it is not connected to a source of power, then it can bear no light. Then it is as useless as the branches that go into the fire.
But, if you are hooked up, consistently and constantly connected to Christ, the result will be that you’ll bear fruit. In the light’s case, if it is connected to the source, it will shine bright. In other words, if you remain in the Father, you will be productive in what you were meant to do.
So, how do we connect, or remain, or abide in Christ? How do we get our light burning bright the way that it is supposed to? Well, let’s see.
First, I think that it is important to Take It Seriously. People take electricity seriously when they plug things in, because if they don’t, they will get shocked. I can remember a time back a few months ago that I was plugging in some computer speakers. I had plugged in the cord to the wall receptacle, but I was joking around and the end piece that is supposed to go into the speaker touched my tongue by accident. Of course it gave me a shock that put me on the floor, but it taught me a lesson to be very careful when dealing with electricity, and to take it seriously.
Just like when you are dealing with electricity, you have to be serious around God as well. It is nothing to take lightly, when dealing with God. God is not just this power that we tap into when we need something, He is the power that sustains our very being. If we don’t take that seriously, then we may be shocked ourselves. We may become unconnected from the source that supplies everything.
So when it comes to being connected to God, we need to take it seriously and realize that apart form God we can accomplish nothing on our own. Apart from God, the light within us will not shine.
Second, I think that we have to Make A Commitment. We have to choose to remain in Him. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the storm is in our lives, we have to make a commitment to trust Him.
Part of that commitment may be to develop a daily practice of hooking into the source. Now I am not saying that we ever should unhook form the source, but we do need to make sure that we are daily securing our hookup to the source.
This is why having a moment in the morning is so vital, it is a time to secure the connection. Now that I am doing some office hours, there are a couple of things that are secure the connection to each morning. First, since it is early, I secure the connection of the coffee pot. But after that, I take time to read a devotional thought and to have a prayer time.
Now this doesn’t have to take an hour to do. In fact, while my coffee is brewing, I have my quiet time each morning, and by the time the coffee is ready, so am I. It is amazing how brighter the day goes when you have secured the connection. The coffee helps too, but it is the connection to Christ that is vitally important.
Third, I think that we need to Maintain Communication. Verse 7 again ties prayer into a relationship with God. Develop a moment by moment realization of God’s presence. Be in constant communication with Him. And as we talked last Sunday night, don’t spend the whole time talking. Take some time in your prayer life to listen as well.
Nathan Hale, a great American patriot during the Revolutionary War, was captured and hung by British soldiers. His now famous final words were, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” He was willing to die for his nation and its freedom. During the final days of World War II, it was apparent that the Japanese were fighting a losing battle. Yet many of their pilots, dubbed “kamikazes,” willingly flew suicide missions. There was great honor in dying for a cause. The pilots were willing to die for glory.
Not long ago, a mother in Philadelphia went back into a burning building to rescue her children who were trapped inside. After saving 2, she died in the flames trying to save the other 2. The mother was willing to die for her children.
In the ancient empire of Persia, a law was passed making it a crime punishable by death to pray to anyone but the emperor. One aged government official refused to obey the edict. It was his habit to pray 3 times daily to the one true God. As a result, he was cast into a den of lions. Even though God saved Daniel, Daniel was still willing to die rather than give up his habit of prayer.
How important is prayer to you? Is it a habit worth dying for? Or, would someone need to pass a law demanding daily prayer or a trip to the lion’s den to get you into the habit of prayer? We are fortunate enough to live in a country that allows prayer, and in a time when it is okay to pray. But people in other areas of the world are willing to die for that which is of great importance to them. Prayer should be that important to us! It is our link to God. Without the pipeline of prayer, we grow spiritually weak, and we become disconnected from our source. Do not neglect the privilege that God has given to us as His children.
When you meet someone, and you want to connect with that person, what do you do? You spend time with him or her, and you talk with them. The same process is true with God as well. In order to connect with Him and get to know Him you must spend time talking with Him. So prayer is an important part of connecting to the ultimate source.
I think that we also need to Connect In His Word. Verse 7 mentions God’s words remaining in us. It is equally important that we connect through God’s Word. It is one way to get us to know God, and to prepare for what is to come.
Some Bible verses are like lanterns. They were made for dark places and dark hours. Did you ever hear about the little girl in the train? She couldn't understand why the trainman was going through the car lighting the lamps. She said, “Mom, it is the middle of the day and the sun is shining, why is he turning on those lights?” The mother smiled, and said, “Wait a bit and you'll see what the lights are for.” In a moment or 2 the train plunged into a long, dark tunnel, and then the little girl saw the wisdom of the lamp lighting process.
Well, those Bibles that many of you own contain thousands of verses that seem very ordinary and unnecessary. You can't see why God has gone to all the trouble of lighting those lamps of truth, but some day you're going to go into the tunnel temptation, or the tunnel of suffering. And then you will value and appreciate the verses that appear to be commonplace today as they light the dark places in your future.
So in order to connect to God, we need to be connecting to His word as well. It needs to be alive and living in us.
Another thing that we need to do is Rely On Your Brothers And Sisters In Christ. In Hebrews 10:25 it says, “3”
The Old Testament characters Job and Daniel had much in common. Both went through serious trials and challenges. Both had great success because of the presence and blessings of God in their lives. Both are viewed as spiritual giants. One for his patience in suffering and the other for his purity in an impure culture.
Job and Daniel had something else in common, each had 3 significant friends. Here, is where the similarities ends. Job’s friends became a thorn in his side, offering him condemnation when he needed support and companionship. As Job struggled with loss and grief, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar seemed bent on intensifying his pain rather than helping him in his troubles.
Daniel’s friends were very different. Taken captive together, Daniel and his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego supported and strengthened one another. They were there for each other in honoring God, in prayer, and in refusing to bow down to the king’s image. That is the kind of friend that we all need. That is the type of brother or sister in Christ that we are all to be.
So, what type of friend are you? Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times.” Is that what we are doing as brothers and sisters in Christ?
And finally, to be connected to God we need to realize one last thing. When You Fail, Just Get Reconnected. Hook back up, don’t ever give up.
The man I am about to talk about was born into poverty and faced defeat all through his life. he could have given up at any time. Look at his failures:
1816- At the age of 7 he went to work to help support his family after losing their home.
1818- His mother died.
1831- He failed in business.
1832- He ran for the state legislature and lost. He lost his job at this time, he wanted to go to law school, but couldn’t get in.
1833- He borrowed some money from a fried to begin a business. By the end of the year he was bankrupt, and he spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834- He ran for state legislature again and won.
1835- He was engaged to be married, but his heart was broken when his sweetheart died.
1836- He had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for 6 months.
1838- He sought to become speaker of the state legislature and lost.
1840- He sought to become an elector and lost.
1843- He ran for Congress and lost.
1846- He ran for Congress again, this time he won, went to Washington and did a good job.
1848- He ran for reelection to Congress and lost.
1849- He sought the job of land officer in his home state and lost.
1854- He ran for the Senate of the United States and lost.
1856- He sought nomination for vice president and received fewer than 100 votes.
1858- He ran for the United States Senate again, and lost again.
1860- He was elected president of the United States.
So who was this man? Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States of America, after he failed many times. Lincoln once said, “The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, “It’s a slip and not a fall.””
You see, the important thing is that we have perseverance. When we fall, we get right back up again and reconnect to the source.
So, as I conclude this morning, let’s see the importance of being connected to the eternal source. As we look at the lamp that is working right, when we take away the source, the light goes off, but as we plug back into the source, the light shines brightly.
Now, as we said earlier, some try to find the source in other things. What about myself…Nope doesn’t work there. What about money… No power there. What about a car, material possessions…Still no power. You see, only when connected to the proper source do things work the way they are supposed to.
The same is true with us. If we want an eternal source, we need to be connected to God alone.
So, let’s apply the source to our light that is not burning bright…Oh, it still doesn’t work. Now what’s wrong with this light? Now if this where a TV show, this is when the words “To Be Continued” would flash up. Next week we will examine the next connection breakdown to get this light working properly.
But the lesson for today is that you have to be connected to the proper source. So, the source is God, so we must look upward in order to find the eternal connection.
Let’s Pray |
