00:00Called to the poor, the peril of neglecting God in an age of false wisdom scripture.
00:04Texts, Luke 4, 18, James 2, 17, Isaiah 55, 11, 2, Timothy 3, 1, 5, 2, Corinthians 12, 9.
00:14Introduction, a world full of voices yet starving for truth.
00:17We live in an age overflowing with information yet impoverished in wisdom.
00:22Men boast of knowledge.
00:23Nations celebrate progress.
00:25Leaders promise peace.
00:27Yet beneath the surface lies anxiety, confusion, deception, and spiritual exhaustion.
00:34Christ declared his mission plainly.
00:36The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
00:42Luke 4, 18.
00:44Not merely the economically poor did not know, but the poor in spirit, those emptied of false confidence.
00:51Those awakened to the truth that life itself is God given.
00:54Sustained by his mercy and destined for judgment apart from his grace.
01:00The great crisis of our age is not ignorance of facts, but neglect of God.
01:06And neglect of God is never neutral.
01:09It is perilous, I.
01:12The poverty Christ came to heal.
01:15Man's deepest poverty is spiritual.
01:19We are born dependent creatures yet live as if self-made.
01:22We breathe borrowed air while denying the giver of breath.
01:25The gospel confronts us with an uncomfortable truth.
01:29Our existence is God's gift.
01:32Our circumstances lie under his providence.
01:35Our eternal destination depends entirely upon his grace.
01:40When the Lord rescues a man trapped in sin, that man rejoices because he knows he has been delivered from
01:47a prison he could not escape.
01:49But the sinner who trusts lies must constantly invent new lies to protect old ones.
01:56Scripture describes Satan as a liar and the father of it.
02:02And those who follow falsehood resemble their master, tangled, restless, moving from deception to deception.
02:09History itself shows us leaders and empires trapped in perpetual manipulation.
02:14Forced to sustain one falsehood with another until collapse becomes inevitable.
02:20Sin enslaves.
02:21Truth liberates.
02:23And in second.
02:24The true wisdom of Christ against the instability of human deceit stands Christ, the true king.
02:31Unlike earthly rulers, Christ speaks only truth.
02:35In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
02:39Colossians 2.3
02:40His wisdom is pure, without mixture, without corruption, without self-interest.
02:46Human wisdom is alloyed, mixed with pride, fear, ambition and self-preservation.
02:51But Christ's wisdom is perfect righteousness.
02:54Therefore, faith in him is not blind optimism.
02:57It is the most rational trust possible, grounded in the character of God himself.
03:04Third term.
03:06The witness of history.
03:07God awakens the poor.
03:09God has never left the world without testimony.
03:12Across centuries and continents, revival has erupted wherever God's word reached spiritually poor hearts.
03:18Thus, consider the witnesses, the reformers, 16th century.
03:23Men like Luther and Calvin restored scripture to the people, turning nations from superstition toward the authority of God's word.
03:31The Puritan legacy.
03:33Their preaching shaped societies through disciplined faith, holiness and devotion to scripture.
03:39The revival of 1859.
03:43In New York and beyond, prayer meetings filled cities.
03:46Commerce paused as convictions spread across communities.
03:50Missionary awakenings.
03:52David Brainerd.
03:53Preaching among Native Americans while sick and starving, yet seeing deep conversions.
03:59William Carey.
04:00Laboring in India, translating scripture despite overwhelming obstacles.
04:04Samuel Ajayi Crowther, once enslaved, later bishop and missionary, carrying the gospel back to Africa.
04:12Missionaries in China and the Pacific, proving no land lies beyond God's reach.
04:17From forests to cities, ships to prisons, deserts to universities, the same gospel awakens souls.
04:24No geography restrains God.
04:26Darkness yields wherever Christ is proclaimed.
04:29Far.
04:30Faith that works.
04:31Scripture warns, faith, if it hath not works, is dead.
04:36James 2.17.
04:38Grace does not produce passivity.
04:40Christ commands, go ye therefore.
04:43Yet many who are saved by miraculous grace remain silent.
04:46Why?
04:471.
04:48Spiritual laziness.
04:50David sinned gravely when he stayed home instead of going to battle.
04:542 Samuel 11.
04:56Idleness opened the door to adultery and murder.
04:59Neglect of calling invites spiritual ruin.
05:012.
05:03Self-confidence.
05:05Like Joab, trusting military strength rather than God, believers often assume success belongs
05:11to their effort.
05:11But scripture declares, the battle is the Lord's.
05:15Even faithful labor can become prideful labor.
05:20William Carey's printing press burned.
05:22Yet the gospel advanced.
05:24God's work never depends ultimately on human instruments.
05:28V.
05:29God's presence in trial.
05:32A remarkable pattern runs through scripture and history.
05:35When trials intensify, God's presence becomes most real.
05:39Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego met Christ in the furnace.
05:43Daniel encountered divine deliverance in the lion's den.
05:47Paul testified,
05:48The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
05:51David Brainerd preached through illness and hunger.
05:55Ajayi Crowther encountered God amid the horrors of a slave ship.
05:59Jonah met God in the belly of a great fish.
06:02We may flee God's call, but his arm is long.
06:06Storms, trials, and interruptions often become instruments of mercy.
06:11God pursues his servants not to destroy them, but to redirect them.
06:15Nothing can hinder God's saving purpose.
06:19George Whitefield preached under violent opposition.
06:22Even stones thrown at him.
06:23Yet thousands were converted.
06:25Why?
06:26Because salvation belongs to the Lord.
06:29My word shall not return unto me void.
06:33Isaiah 55, 11
06:35God's work stands firm regardless of human resistance.
06:38The church grows not because conditions are favorable,
06:41but because God wills to save sinners.
06:44Seventh, the great danger neglecting God.
06:47The greatest peril is not persecution.
06:49It is indifference.
06:51Many today feel comfortable without salvation.
06:53They believe themselves morally sufficient.
06:55They assume peace without the prince of peace.
06:59Scripture warns of a time when men cry,
07:02peace and safety while destruction approaches.
07:05Comfort without Christ is spiritual sleep before judgment.
07:09Neglect hardens the heart slowly, almost invisibly,
07:14until repentance feels unnecessary.
07:16Eight, our work and God's work.
07:20Paul pleaded for relief from his affliction, yet God answered,
07:23My grace is sufficient for thee.
07:262 Corinthians 12, 9
07:27The lesson is profound.
07:29The work is God's.
07:30The glory is God's.
07:32The power is God's.
07:33The sufficiency is grace.
07:35We labor, but God accomplishes.
07:37Like ancient ships battered by storms,
07:39vessels were undergirded with ropes to keep them from breaking apart.
07:43So must our lives and ministries be undergirded by divine grace.
07:47Without him, our work collapses.
07:49With him, even weakness becomes strength.
07:53Nine, a call to urgent obedience.
07:56Who among us will go?
07:58Who will speak?
07:59Who will carry the gospel into places of darkness,
08:01workplaces, neighborhoods, nations?
08:04Sin abounds.
08:05Confusion spreads.
08:06Souls wander.
08:07But grace abounds more.
08:09The question is not whether God will work.
08:12The question is whether we will participate in his work.
08:15Conclusion, the sure foundation.
08:18The Lord's work stands secure.
08:20The foundation of God standeth sure.
08:232 Timothy 2, 19
08:24Our achievements fade.
08:26Our strength fails.
08:28Our plans falter.
08:29But God's purpose endures forever.
08:31Therefore, trust not in human wisdom.
08:34Do not delay repentance.
08:36Do not neglect the call of God.
08:37Do not hide the gospel entrusted to you.
08:40May the Lord take our fragile efforts,
08:42overwrite our failures,
08:44and establish his work through us.
08:46So that battered lives like storm-tossed ships
08:49may be held together by his eternal grace.
08:52To him be glory forever and ever.
08:55Amen.
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