Things I Can't Afford

Note:  When preaching I don't always follow my notes word for word.  This message is one example.  You will find more Scripture and less comments in this message than there may have been in my previous postings, although I do use a lot of Scripture in all of my preaching.  I suggest that you read this one prayerfully (hopefully you always do this) and allow the Holy Spirit to talk to you and follow His promptings.  With prayer that this can help someone I post the following.

THINGS I CAN'T AFFORD
1 Corinthians:6:12;  10:23

    (1 Corinthians 6:12) All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.  (KJV)
    (1 Corinthians 10:23) All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.  (KJV)

    Some things are legal as far as the laws of the land are concerned but they are still not right.   There are some things I can't afford.

    I.  I CAN'T AFFORD TO VIOLATE MY GOD GIVEN CONSCIENCE.
    Paul's testimony was (Acts 24:16) And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.  (KJV)
    We can make ship-wreck of our conscience.
    (1 Timothy 1:19) Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:  (KJV)
    (1 Timothy 4:2) …. having their conscience seared with a hot iron;  (KJV)

    A little girl in London held up her broken wrist and said, "Look, Mommy, my hand is bent the wrong way!" There were no tears in her eyes. She felt no pain whatever. That was when she was four years old.
    When she was six, her parents noticed that she was walking with a limp. A doctor discovered that the girl had a fractured thigh. Still she felt no pain.
The girl is now 14 years old. She is careful now, but occasionally looks at blisters and burns on her hands and wonders, "How did this happen?" She is insensitive to pain! Medical specialists are baffled by the case. It is called “congenital insensitivity to pain.”
    There is another in-sensitiveness which is deadlier and more dangerous--in-sensitiveness to sin! Paul said of people with this malady: they had "their consciences seared as with a hot iron" (1 Tim. 4:2).

    (Titus 1:15) Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.  (KJV)

    II. I CAN'T AFFORD TO BE INDIFFERENT TO GOD'S CALLS.
    1.  SALVATION.
    (Luke 14:16-24) Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.  (KJV)

    2. SANCTIFICATION.
    (Hebrews 12:14) Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:  (KJV)
I must have the work of God in my heart to live a holy life.  God can work in your life and give you a deeper walk with Him, so that you can live a holy and acceptable life in Him.

    III. I CAN'T AFFORD TO WITHDRAW MY CONSECRATION FROM GOD.
    If I withdraw my consecration from God I am a transgressor.
    (Galatians 2:18) For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.  (KJV)
    (Matthew 13:44-46) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.  (KJV)
    Romans 12:1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (KJV)

    IV.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO HAVE AN UNFORGIVING SPIRIT.
    (Matthew 6:15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  (KJV)
    "I'll never forgive him. I told him I would never forgive him." The attractive elderly lady spoke softly, but with resolve, to the night nurse. Her expression was troubled as she turned away, focusing her eyes on the drape closing in her nursing home bed. The conversation had traveled from the temporal to the eternal and now a deep hurt had surfaced.
She told of how her brother had approached her hospital bed, accusing her of taking more than her share of family heirlooms following their mother's death. He spoke of various items, ending with "the berry spoon." He said, "I want the berry spoon." For the 40 years since the parent's death he had hidden his feelings, and now they erupted. She was both hurt and angered by his accusation and vowed never to forgive him. "It's my spoon. It was given to me," she defended herself. "He's wrong and I won't forgive him."
A berry spoon. In the bed lay a woman given two months to live--60 days--and she would face eternity and never see her brother again in this life. Her mind and spirit were in anguish, and her only remaining family tie was broken over a spoon.
How many berry spoons are there in our lives? How many things, as insignificant as a spoon, in light of eternity, separate us from full communion with God? How much lack of forgiveness keeps us from fellowship with others?
    "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matt. 6:14, 15).
    Have you ever had the attitude that says, “I’ll forgive but I won’t have any more to do with that person?”
    Is that how you want God to forgive you?  Do you want Him to say He will forgive you but He will have nothing more to do with you?

    V. I CAN’T AFFORD TO GO AGAINST THE LIGHT GOD HAS GIVEN ME.
    If I do I walk in gross darkness.
    (Matthew 6:23) But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  (KJV)
    (John 1:5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.  (KJV)
    (Psalms 82:5) They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.  (KJV)
    Illustration: King Saul – I Samuel chapters 15 & 28.

     VI.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO JEOPARDIZE MY INFLUENCE.
     (Matthew 5:13-16) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 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.  (KJV)
    A preacher told of eating lunch in a restaurant and seeing the manager eating lunch from a nearby fast food establishment. What did the manager's choice say to the people who watched? I would think, "Don't eat here . . . the food across the street is better."
    People are watching you. They see how you live. They hear you talk. They see your priorities in the things you buy and the way you dress. They observe the places you go. And they know the company you keep. You are a "walking billboard." Does your advertisement say "follow me to Christ," or does it lead people across the street?
    "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).
     (Philippians 2:15) That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;  (KJV)

     VII. I CANNOT AFFORD TO GO AGAINST GOD’S WILL FOR MY LIFE.
     (Romans 12:2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  (KJV)
    Not all are called to a special service, but all are called to be Christians.
    If you are a Christian your attitude is the one found in Psalm 40:8.  
    (Psalms 40:8 )  I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.  (KJV)

     VIII. I CAN'T AFFORD TO QUIT THIS RACE OR ABANDON MY CALLING.
     (Hebrews 12:1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  (KJV)
    There is a prize to win.
     (2 Timothy 4:8 ) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.  (KJV)

     IX. I CAN’T AFFORD TO TREAT ETERNAL THINGS AS TRIVIAL.
     (John 2:14-16) And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.  (KJV)

    X.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO OFFER UP MY CHILDREN.
    To sacrifice them upon an altar of worldliness and indifference.
    I am responsible for how I raise my children.  I must bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God's Word.

    XI.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO SEPARATE FROM MY BRETHREN.
    To split the body of Christ and weaken it by my own PRIDE or preference on minor matters.  
    (Matthew 5:23-24) Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.  (KJV)

     XII.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO SELL OUT ON THIS WORLD’S MARKET.
     (1 John 2:15-17) 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. 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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.  (KJV)

    XIII.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO CLUTTER UP MY MIND WITH THINGS THAT WOULD ROB ME OF MY RELISH FOR GOD’S WORD.
    (Philippians 4: 8)Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  (KJV)

    XIV. I CAN'T AFFORD TO ENGAGE IN SHADY DEALS AND SACRIFICE MY INFLUENCE OVER TRUSTING PEOPLE.
I must be completely honest in all of my dealings with my fellow men.  Honesty rules in the life of the true Christian.

    XV.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO LET THE HOUSE OF GOD BE TURNED INTO A PLAY HOUSE.
    Serving God is serious business.  The most important thing in Church is serving God and finding how to please him in my life.  It is  a place for serious meditation on the things found in His Word that will affect my life all the time, at home, at work, at school, or anywhere else I am.

    XVI.  I CAN’T AFFORD TO BE UNPREPARED WHEN JESUS COMES.
    (Matthew 24:44) Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.  (KJV)
    I must make sure I am prayed up and living my life according to His Word so that I am ready when the trumpet sounds and He comes for His bride.

    (Parable of the ten virgins - Matthew 25:1-13)

AMEN!

Our preacher was talking of sin today. Based it on Deuteronomy 1:1 through 1:32. Why did it take 40 years for Moses to lead his people out of the wilderness (desert)? Sin, and not believing in God. Loved it!!

Great tie in with what you have here Rohn...hmm, someone is telling me something.