Sabbath 10/06/18 Alfred Station Seventh Day Baptist Pastor Ken sermon “Expanding Your Borders” I Samuel 7:13-17, II Chronicles 4:10
The focus of today is expanding your territories. In the II Chronicles 4:10, Jabez prayed a prayer to God. The prayer of Jabez was that God would extend- expand him, bless him and that Jabez would not cause any pain to other people. The name Jabez means pain. Expansion of his borders was what Jabez prayed for. God told Joshua to tell the people of Israel to expand their borders. God told them that all the land belonged to them but they would have to go in and conquer the land. God said He would be with them. Every place their foot would tread on belonged to them. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus said that all authority is given to Him. We are to go teaching the gospel to people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Jesus will be with us always. Jesus said He will be with us until the end of the world. Jesus is saying that we are called to expand our borders AND to be expanding the kingdom of God. Don’t just sit alone where you are at, but expand!
This expansion didn’t happen with the children of Israel because of disobedience and sin. This expansion doesn’t happen to some Christians today because of disobedience and sin. You see, Israel thought they were Great after defeating Jericho but then got beaten in the city of Ai. One man’s sin, Achan’s sin, of taking the unclean thing and burying it, caused the Israelite’s defeat. Sometimes we think we are God’s special gift. We make our plans and say we WILL accomplish it. Because we are just Good. We forget that all good things come from God. Because we forget the source of where all good things come from, we do not expand our borders. We have sinned, so no expansion. That was the problem with Israel.
Looking at our text, something happened in Israel and they must have repented. They re-take the lands that God had given them. They re-take if from the Philistines and Amorites. We know the Philistines from David and Goliath but the Philistines have been around since the book of Genesis chapter 10. In the book of Judges, the Philistines were a group of people that God told the Israelites to drive out but they didn’t. They were disobedient so their borders didn’t get expanded.
Now under the judgeship of Samuel, Israel was expanding and taking back their territories. Samuel had a miraculous birth because his mother was barren. The Priest Eli saw her praying and told her that God would give her a child. She brings the child to the temple to serve the Lord. This child is Samuel. God tells Samuel when he is still a child that he will be judge-prophet for God. This is because Priest Eli’s sons are going to die. Later Samuel does become a judge and prophet.
God has called us to expand His kingdom. The signs that we are doing this is baptism and keeping the Lords Supper. God has called each of us to do this because when we came to know Christ Jesus, we were each given a spiritual gift. We may not be a judge but God has called us with a gift. Our answer should be speak Lord for your servant hears you. We are called to use our gift in the circuit-circle that we follow. It may be going from home to work or going to school or going to wherever. When we go in our circuit, we are supposed to take our gifts with us! At one point, our circuit will lead us to taking the Lords supper-communion. This is a sign that the blood of Christ allows us to raise the altar of God. Samuel raised his altar not just in the church but it was taken home by him. We are to give witness of our faith to our families and our neighbors. Taking the Lords supper is renewing our covenant with God and Jesus Christ.
AMEN
The focus of today is expanding your territories. In the II Chronicles 4:10, Jabez prayed a prayer to God. The prayer of Jabez was that God would extend- expand him, bless him and that Jabez would not cause any pain to other people. The name Jabez means pain. Expansion of his borders was what Jabez prayed for. God told Joshua to tell the people of Israel to expand their borders. God told them that all the land belonged to them but they would have to go in and conquer the land. God said He would be with them. Every place their foot would tread on belonged to them. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus said that all authority is given to Him. We are to go teaching the gospel to people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Jesus will be with us always. Jesus said He will be with us until the end of the world. Jesus is saying that we are called to expand our borders AND to be expanding the kingdom of God. Don’t just sit alone where you are at, but expand!
This expansion didn’t happen with the children of Israel because of disobedience and sin. This expansion doesn’t happen to some Christians today because of disobedience and sin. You see, Israel thought they were Great after defeating Jericho but then got beaten in the city of Ai. One man’s sin, Achan’s sin, of taking the unclean thing and burying it, caused the Israelite’s defeat. Sometimes we think we are God’s special gift. We make our plans and say we WILL accomplish it. Because we are just Good. We forget that all good things come from God. Because we forget the source of where all good things come from, we do not expand our borders. We have sinned, so no expansion. That was the problem with Israel.
Looking at our text, something happened in Israel and they must have repented. They re-take the lands that God had given them. They re-take if from the Philistines and Amorites. We know the Philistines from David and Goliath but the Philistines have been around since the book of Genesis chapter 10. In the book of Judges, the Philistines were a group of people that God told the Israelites to drive out but they didn’t. They were disobedient so their borders didn’t get expanded.
Now under the judgeship of Samuel, Israel was expanding and taking back their territories. Samuel had a miraculous birth because his mother was barren. The Priest Eli saw her praying and told her that God would give her a child. She brings the child to the temple to serve the Lord. This child is Samuel. God tells Samuel when he is still a child that he will be judge-prophet for God. This is because Priest Eli’s sons are going to die. Later Samuel does become a judge and prophet.
God has called us to expand His kingdom. The signs that we are doing this is baptism and keeping the Lords Supper. God has called each of us to do this because when we came to know Christ Jesus, we were each given a spiritual gift. We may not be a judge but God has called us with a gift. Our answer should be speak Lord for your servant hears you. We are called to use our gift in the circuit-circle that we follow. It may be going from home to work or going to school or going to wherever. When we go in our circuit, we are supposed to take our gifts with us! At one point, our circuit will lead us to taking the Lords supper-communion. This is a sign that the blood of Christ allows us to raise the altar of God. Samuel raised his altar not just in the church but it was taken home by him. We are to give witness of our faith to our families and our neighbors. Taking the Lords supper is renewing our covenant with God and Jesus Christ.
AMEN