Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
Sometimes the temperatures can get really cold up here in Northern Minnesota, and when that happens, a lot of vehicles have great difficulty starting. A lot of people don’t have the money to build a garage to shelter their cars, so they have to sit outside and endure the frigid temperatures all night long. When morning finally arrives, the car battery is so frozen that it just doesn’t have enough juice to turn over that cold motor. But over the years, I’ve developed my own little remedy for this problem. If it looks like the thermometer is going to plunge into negative digits, and we have to go somewhere the next day, we make sure to pull the battery out of the truck and bring it down to the house. There by the kitchen door, it sits comfortably by the warmth of the wood stove all night long. When morning finally arrives, it is roused from its sleep, and carried back up to the truck. After the cables are in place, and with a swift turn of the ignition key, that cold motor will turn over like its a warm summer afternoon.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Extreme cold can really affect the performance of equipment, but sin can do the same thing. Like a bitter night, it can creep into somebody’s life, and deny them the power that they need to obediently serve God each day. The more sin abounds, the colder the heart will become and like embers in a fire, the flame of faith can slowly begin to die out. Each day, we must be constantly filled and renewed with the fire of the Holy Spirit, denying the coldness of sinful living, and embracing the warmth of God’s truth.
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”Matthew 24:12
Whenever somebody commits a sin, it causes a break in our relationship with God. The ardent love that we possessed for Him in the past, begins to become clouded, and without repentance can ultimately fade away. We must keep ourselves in the love of God if we want to enter eternal life. Doing His will pleases Him completely, and we must do it consistently. Our hearts must be filled with a fire of obedience, keeping our lamps burning brightly until the day He returns for us. We must strive for a perfect heart towards Him, knowing that we have done the things that are well pleasing in His sight. Obedience to the will of God, is our demonstration of love and passion for our creator.
1 John 2 ³ And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. ⁴ He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. ⁶ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
When you come home from school and your dad commands you to do something, it is your obedience to his will that is the proof of your love towards him. When a wife completely submits to the will of her husband, it is her obedience to him that is the proof of her love towards him. To manifest a perfect love towards God, is to serve Him with an obedient heart. This requires humility, meekness, and complete submission to one greater than yourself.
John 14 ²¹ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. ²² Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? ²³ Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
²⁴ He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
To keep ourselves in the love of God requires focusing our hearts and our minds on Him, rather than the sinful things of this world.
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Proverbs 8:17
1 John 2 ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
To love God perfectly, we must diligently obey His desire for our lives, but sin can be a stumbling block to our efforts.
“But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” — Hebrews 3:13
Mark 4 ¹⁸ And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, ¹⁹ And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Out of love for Christ Jesus, it is our responsibility to go and sin no more and to mortify the sins of the flesh.
Romans 8 ¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
True love for God will yield to His will.
Romans 6 ¹¹ Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. ¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. ¹³ Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
To maintain a perfect heart for God, we must choose the path of obedience towards Him. As this world grows steadily colder, we must always remember to disconnect the cables of our hearts, and plug into the warmth of the Holy Spirit. This will ensure that we are prepared and ready each morning to rise up and perform the will of God. After all, none of us really want to wake up to a….
……Frozen Battery.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
https://tlkjbc.com/written-sermons/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2055335/episodes
https://www.facebook.com/share/14RHGVBBHbG/
Note: Any copies may be printed and freely distributed among those who have no internet service. There is no AI creative involvement in my writings, and must be left intact because they are very personal to me. These are not to be sold, and are made public only for the free benefit of Spiritual knowledge to those who are genuinely seeking the will of God.
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 