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.
Back in 1898, a ship was built that was the very first of its kind. It was constructed in England for the Russian imperial Navy, and designed by their vice admiral, Stepan Makarov. But this ship was created with a specific purpose in mind and built heavy duty, with a reinforced hull that allowed it to break through the polar ice of the North. The Yermak is widely considered to be the very first seagoing icebreaker in the world, and was approximately 320 ft long, weighing in at 10,000 tons, with steam-reciprocating engines that produced around 10,000 horsepower. The way these ships work is whenever the ice becomes extremely thick, an icebreaker can break it up by using the sheer weight of the vessel. The bow of the ship is rounded, allowing it to drive up on top of the ice, and then crush it beneath them. Remarkably, it has been claimed that some of these newer vessels can break ice that is up to 21 ft thick, depending on the size of the ship, its power, and the design of the hull.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Layers of ice are constantly forming in the Arctic, but in order for ships to get to their final destination, it has to be completely broken up. The same is true with each of us, because in order to obtain eternal life, we must break up the ice that forms deep inside of the heart, which happens when people get involved with sinful living. Like an iceberg floating out into the frigid water, the further that people get away from God’s Holy Word, the harder the heart will become. For those who want to stay on the narrow path of Christ Jesus, sin must be completely eradicated from our lives, which will require a broken and contrite heart, and a liberal dose of God’s Truth.
Hebrews 3:12-13 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The Apostle was warning the church that they had better pay attention to the teachings of their faith, and not allow themselves to be deceived by sin. Sin can have devastating effects on one’s relationship with God and their own eternal salvation. It will actually convince you that everything is fine and dandy, but the entire time it is leading your heart on the pathway to hell.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
The teachings of God’s Holy Word must be an active part of our daily lives, just as much as breathing oxygen into our lungs. Scriptures are the Holy Spirit written on paper, and the further that one distances themselves from it, the easier they can be deceived. The devil wants to pounce on the weak, which is why we must be filled up with the Spiritual ammunition required to defend ourselves. The onset of sinful living begins with a lack of what we need to survive, the wisdom of God, and a faithful obedient heart.
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Ecclesiastes 7:25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
We are passing through some perilous times, an era of history that seems to have no fear of God whatsoever. This is evident by people’s lack of a belief in an eternal lake of fire, a place of everlasting suffering where the fire will never be quenched. False prophets have been preaching this heretical garbage for many years, claiming that a God of love would never do this. But those who refuse to repent, and humbly submit themselves to God’s will, become His enemy. Without repentance, they will receive His indignation and wrath, which is a just reward upon the heads of the impenitent.
Romans 2:5-8 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Whenever you plant something in your garden, you need to break up the ground in order to plant the seed. It needs to be buried deep within the heart of the Earth in order for it to grow into fruition. The same is also true of our own salvation. God’s Word must be planted deep inside of our hearts, but just like an icebreaker, we must first break up the fallow ground through contrition and humbleness of mind.
Jeremiah 4:3-4 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground,……
James warned the church that they needed to submit themselves to the will of God because He will resist those who are proud in heart. As the bride of Christ, we must become lovingly obedient to Him in everything, but those who choose to get involved with sin are committing an instance of spiritual adultery against Him. The only way that we can please the Lord, is when we obey Him from the heart, and the only way that is going to happen is when you humble yourself enough to turn from your sins, and accept the error of your way.
James 4:4-10 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Like drinking a glass of water every morning, we must constantly drink from the living water of God’s Holy Word, because it is the truth of scripture that strengthens us against all the lies of this sinful world. We must walk humbly before our God, being filled with a contrite and penitent heart, because in order for anyone to get all the way to heaven, people will need to start breaking up the ice, just like,……….
………..The Icebreaker Yermak
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.
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