Sermon "The Finishing Touch" by Rick Shabi, June 6, 2020

well I'm not I'm not a big fan and never have been kind of a connoisseur of art or sculpture or anything like that it's never been kind of the thing that has you know attracted my attention but as you go to around to various places and and maybe as you become older or you become a little bit more appreciative of the things and the differences of people and the talents that they have and you know as you if you if you've had the opportunity to go over to Italy in Greece you see some of the fine sculptures from you know centuries ago that people that people did and you know you look at those and you kind of realize you're kind of looking at a finished product but you don't do you don't really see until you think about it the years and maybe decades of work that went into some of those pieces you know back in ancient Greek they had some fantastic pieces when you look at some of the sculptures that were there there are some there were you know if you look online they'll tell you there's there were six million sculptures bat sculptors back in Greek and they did some amazing work for the time back you know a couple thousand years ago even one of those sculptors his name was Phidias and he's the one who he's the one who actually carved the Statue of Zeus that was considered one of the seven wonders of the world back at that time and I've seen pictures of it and it's very intricate very intricate he also carved a statue of a out of Athena and it took this man literally decades to do those things and I you know I remember in school you know you would do the things with the look the kills and the clay and you kind of fashioned your little you know little bowls and whatever you were doing it was kind of fun to do that but you didn't put much time into it but these people you know they all they they kind of that was her life's work they had a vision of what they were doing and they had the patience they took the time to do take care of every little detail it was said of is it was said of phidias for instance with after he carved some fish and they were so lifelike that someone said you could just simply add water those fish and they start swimming yet they were out of they were out of stone there's another little story a little another little story I want to that's out on the internet about Phidias let me just read it to you says Phidias was very likely the greatest sculptor among the ancient Greeks legend tells us that he was extremely careful when applying the finishing touches to the beautiful statue of Athena I think is supposed to be Diana the beautiful statue of Athena which was to adorn the Acropolis in Athens as he applied his chisel to the rear side of her head he shaped each strand of her hair with great patience giving his full attention to the tiniest detail an observer reminded Phidias that the statue would stand 100 feet high with us back to a huge marble wall why waste your time on those finishing touches which will never be seen he asked who will ever know such beauty is there and Phidias replied I will I will he had a vision in mind he knew exactly what he wanted to do when he was when he was carving that statue he knew exactly where it was going and everything was going to be perfect in his eyes even though other people may not see it or understand what it was he was going to he was going to get that done right and it was going to be to the specifications that he wanted you know that's the mark of a true artist the true sculptor I don't know if in America or in the world we have any real sculptors anymore like they were in olden times because it takes such attention to detail it took so much time to do those things and to go over it and over again and build everything into the that you wanted well you know we might not know any sculptors we may not appreciate the work that went into it but every single one of us it's part of a work of art that's being worked out in in us into the world we live you know there is no greater sculptor there is no greater artist there is no greater painter there is no greater visionary than God and he took something from nothing way back when and he made it into something that is absolutely perfect no one knows how long it was to form the earth the way it is today it certainly you know we read in Genesis 1 you know it goes 1 2 3 4 5 6 how many in our time millions of years or billions of years to get everything exactly right every single detail in place and so we look at that and we know dear today isn't the finished project isn't a finished product there's finishing touches that have to be put on it God had something in mind at creation that's still at work centuries decades millennia maybe millions of years in the making he's very detailed and everything's going to be done to his specification let's look at a few verses here back in Isaiah or in Isaiah Isaiah 46 first we seem to often remind ourselves of that that God is in control and God is the one who is is carving out what's here below God is the one who will bring this sculpture this creation this masterpiece that he's working it's a conclusion in exactly the way that he wants Isaiah 46 verse 10 it says God declares the end from the beginning he knows exactly where it's going to go you know Phidias and the great sculptors they had a vision in mind this is exactly what the detail they were going to do and they just kept owning it and honing it and honing it until it was ready to be revealed declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure I will bring it about and so we live on a planet that was developed out of nothing let's turn a few chapters back to Isaiah 49 a of 40 and verse 21 says haven't you known haven't you heard hasn't it been told you from the beginning haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth it is he it is God who sits above the circle of the earth its inhabitants are like grasshoppers which stretched out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in you know you read about the circle of the earth and I know there's people out there in the world today that you know there's this Flat Earth theory that's going around you know that some that some pay attention to and you kind of scratch your head and think you know what what is the basis of it the Bible tells us right there God sits above the circle of the earth he formed it he's got everything exactly the way that it should be you know we even look up back in Psalm 19 we won't we won't turn there says the heavens declare God's glory look at his masterpiece David would marvel when he would sit lay on his back and look up at the skies and say who could ever paint a painting like that who could ever decorate a sky a canvas the way God decorated it he's the master he's the creator he's the one who's doing things he's the master Potter he's one he's the one who is forming and continues to create and mold his creation to the desired end that is yet ahead of us we go forward and I say at Isaiah 64 he's a a 64 and verse 8 Isaiah writes but now o eternal you you are our Father we are the clay and you our Potter and all we are the work of your hands you're the one molding us you're the one developing us you've got the end in mind we're just that clay we are the dust of the earth you took us from nothing and you keep working and you keep working and you keep working because you have something in mind for mankind you have something in mind for Earth just like the great sculptors of old who had something in mind it might have taken them years and decades to complete it but they were patient and they were attentive to every little chisel they made in that stone to get it exactly right God is patient and God works with us because he wants to get what he wants us to be and wants us to become exactly what he wants let's next book Jeremiah let's look at Jeremiah 18 Jeremiah 18 and verse 1 God's Word came to Jeremiah verse 2 and he said arise Jeremiah go down to the potter's house and there I will cause you to hear my words and I went down to the potter's house and there he was making something at the wheel and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the Potter so he made it again into another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter to make was it right Bree retool got things going again the word of the Lord came to me saying a house of Israel can I not do with you as this Potter look as the clay is in the Potters hand so are you in my hand old house of Israel and then he goes on to talk about listen I can form this though I desired and the way I want the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck it up to pull it down to destroy it if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from his evil I'll relent to the disaster that I thought to bring upon it and he goes on at this I'm molding this I'm developing I've got a plan in mind everything that you go through everything that is part of moulding and the pot the clay and what God is working in this world and then us is all part of his plan he has an end in mind and maybe sometimes like you know the person who asked Phidias why are you paying attention to that what are you doing it that way for now we might have those same questions to what do we need to do that for what is what is this teaching us but we have to rely on the master Potter we have to rely on our architect we have to rely on our masterpiece builder that he's got an end in mind let's go back let's go back and look at a couple of the things that God has done here let's go back to Genesis 1 always interesting to look at their creation story and we're not going to read the entire chapter of of chapter 1 but again we see at the beginning you know in Genesis 1:1 God created the heavens in the earth and as he looked down on it after it hit had been there for a while and decimated by someone who didn't have God's vision in mind and who departed from him the earth was out without form it was void it was Tohu and bohu is chaos it was confused it was dark and then God was going to create then God was going to begin working with that toward a desired end that he had and you go down through and you see how he just one day day one day two three four five he just created the things and all of a sudden out of literally nothing do you have this beautiful planet you have this beautiful planet we come down to verse 26 you know as as God went through five days of creation and you had a beautiful planet was there it had animals that had birds it had fish it had an ecosystem that was all developed it was perfect it was self-sustaining you couldn't get it more perfect if you had tried it was a masterpiece and then God put the finishing touch the finishing touch on that creation when he created man because there had to be something then the that's the other physical things on earth verse 26 God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness let them have dominion over the fish of the sea the birds of the air and over the cattle over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth so God created man so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them blessed them and said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth I'm putting you in charge you're the finishing touch the creation is there now I'm giving it to you it needs man to oversee it it needs man to cultivate it it needs man to work with it it needs man to learn from it it needs man there without man the earth was incomplete so when God on the sixth day he put the finishing touch of putting man there we'll get back to man but even at that point we had a self-sustaining earth we had a beautiful masterpiece a beautiful place that Adam and Eve were in was the physical creation enough was that all that God had in mind just create a great beautiful physical place could have sustained itself with man overseeing everything even though God had built in every feature into that earth to keep it going now it needed something else it needed something else in order to become what God had in mind because that was the finished product for now but that was just the beginning of what God had in mind so we moved to verse chapter 2 verse 31 of chapter one it says God saw everything that he made it was very good it was perfect it was exactly the way he wanted it to be verse 1 of chapter 2 the heavens and the earth and all of them were finished complete the work is done but there was one more thing that had to happen in order for that masterpiece to continue one another a finishing touch and that finishing touch we find in verse 2 on the seventh day God ended ended his work which he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done and he blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested fied he rested from all his work which he had created and made the earth wasn't complete the physical wasn't complete without God he had man who had dominion over the earth but God built into the earth without God they'll never amount to anything without God it's not going to take the next step without God it's not going to ever progress toward what the ultimate is what the end is that God knows from the beginning it's going to have to have God and mankind has to have built into his week into his time time for God to acknowledge him because if he doesn't have time for God the sculpture stops building the sculpture the sculpture doesn't progress in the way it should be it doesn't have the desired effect it doesn't have the desired end it's not beautiful and so God created the seventh day and Jesus Christ said the Sabbath was made for man is a tool for man it was a gift to man it was a time for him to remember God and to remember that God has something in mind beyond just this physical creation of the physical bodies that we have today there had to be God involved just like the Statue of Zeus and these other statues and sculptures of phidias if he wasn't there it was just gonna stop at the legs or at the waist and it would have never been completed if he disappeared it would have never been completed without God what God started would never be completed but we know the story we know that mankind you know that mankind rejected God they took it upon themselves and they didn't pay attention to there's the there's the Potter and the clay we would just as soon do things our way we don't want to do it the Masters way we don't want to do it the sculptor's way we want we want to kind of build this our cells God allowed it to happen God allowed it to happen well you know what I'm gonna build that into the sculpture because this is something that they need to know it need we need to have this part of what the ultimate end is so they can build this in will chisel the that's part of the part of the process of the development of the whole thing let them be what they want to be because that's part of the masterpiece that's going to get us to the desired and the vision that God had in mind and we see what happens without God and not too many years 1500 years maybe in Genesis 6 without God and their lives without remembering the Sabbath day without the master that was there that would have created and had in mind a beautiful peaceful awesome existence for mankind where everyone we living in accord it descended into the same state it was before but this time with man in it is he sent it into chaos and confusion and violence Genesis 6 verse 5 the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually the mark the mark of a world without God the mark of a world without God without the master sculptor let's forget him let's do it our way it doesn't turn out well doesn't turn out beautiful doesn't turn out as one of the as the Magnificent thing it should be when you fire the master sculptor and then think if you do it your own way it's going to come out well just doesn't work that way we go to the New Testament in Romans 1 and you know we see even as as the flood came and everyone except knowing his family you know died and the earth was restarted with that family that did follow God that the same thing happened so here in the end days when we look at Romans 1 and verse 29 you know we see we see a definition of the age that we live in verse 29 filled with unrighteousness sexual immorality wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder strife deceit evil mindedness they're whisperers they're backbiters they're haters of God they're violent they're proud they're boasters they're inventors of evil things they're disobedient to parents undiscerning untrustworthy unloving unforgiving and unmerciful I mean how many more negative adjectives can we have that's the world we live in this is what happens when a world doesn't want what the sculptor does and they say we're going to take matters into our own hands and we're gonna sculpt this the way we want and that's the world we live in today verse 28 it tells us these people didn't like to retain God in their knowledge Adam and Eve didn't want to retain God in their knowledge the people before the flood didn't want to retain God in their knowledge of people today don't want to retain God in their knowledge and so here we are in June of twenty twenty twenty and we look at a world we would look at a world that has had so many things happen to it over the last several months one thing after another you know makes you wonder where's the next thing what what has the building of this world the sculptors of this what has it brought us to you know we've got health pandemics going on we've got economic questions going on we've got everything going on in the world today with the with the George Floyd case and the the response to that the world is seeking for answers the world is looking for answers there's a world that doesn't even understand each other and there's so much to work to be done in that area when you see the magnitude of problems that are building up and who knows what it's going to be next because it just seems to happen over and over it's like a wave the waves coming in from the ocean what's the next one that's gonna stop us that knock us off our feet you know what the problem with world is you know they can have all the committees they want and they can they can you know we can have all the protests and nothing wrong with them I understand the sentiment behind it I get I'm beginning to get what the problems are but there are no answers in the world the sculptor of this world does not have the answers only the master sculptor has the answer to what's going on and if the world let's go back and say you finish what you created you sculpt us you mold us you know what you know what it would be a much better place and that master sculptor he has not abandoned the world he's letting it be chiseled into the fabric of mankind and the champ the fabric of the earth it's all part of what his plan is he will get to the point of where he wanted it to be that he saw from the very beginning because he knows what the end is and with everything that we go through in this life good and bad it's like that master sculpt for taking the time and patiently chiseling in chiseling into that statue that form our existence what it is and how glorious it will be when the final final touches are put on it but somewhere along the line the clay has to say we'll let you master Potter we'll let you finish what you began because what we have done what we have built the picture that we're painting isn't very pretty isn't very pretty hey we have no idea how to get out of it we have no idea what to do we have no answers to the things that are going on in in in the world today mankind has no answers but what God does let's go back to Isaiah 55 and as they have 55 and verse 8 you know we can look and we can say what well why did we wait why is this happening why why do we have to go through this you know just like the man asks phidias what are you doing that for why you wasting your time on that what does that have to be part of it yes everything that goes on has to be part of what God is is building in this word world we may not know why we may question verse 55 verse 8 we're reminded as God says my thoughts aren't your thoughts you may not get why this happens you may not understand it now I've got an end in mind I've got an end in mind and every stroke I take every color I add every chisel I make it's designed to get to desired end for the earth for Humanity and every one of us my thoughts aren't your thoughts my ways aren't your ways as the eternal for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts something we could all remember when we're going through and think you know God he is the master sculptor he does know what's going on I know he's got the end in mind I may wish it was a different way but you know why I gotta trust that everything that happens everything that goes on he's chiseling into us individually and collectively and the world's history exactly what it needs for the desired end that God has in mind that he had before the earth was ever ever formed we're all in that process we're all there we don't know exactly how far the sculpture is done it seems it's getting closer and closer to completion to the final final touches where God will say and Christ says no it's finished it's done well we could talk about the earth let's go back and talk about man because of the of the things that God created back on those first six days of creation he created man last as if man was the he was the finishing touch on those first six days and then of course God gave him the Sabbath day on the seventh is the finishing touch of what he would need everything was in the earth that he would need to sustain his life and live his life he would also need the Sabbath day and he would need to keep that holy and he would need to take that time to reflect and stay away from everything of the world and take that time for God in order to continue through the time that that guy wanted him to have but man when you read in verse 26 you know he wasn't complete either he's a physical man with temporary life no immortal soul like the that like the world wants to believe he was created then he could die he could die but God didn't want that he wasn't willing that and every wants everyone to have eternal life but there's a plan guy chisels of the way that he sees fit but here's man here's man let's chop down to look at chapter 2 and verse 18 God says to Adam who's their Lord God said it's not good that man should be done Bob you should be alone I will make him a helper comparable to him so Adam you know as he was looking at the beasts of the field and naming them you know he could see well they all have kind of mates there's two of them but there's just just one of me verse 21 God says you know it's that good for man to be alone the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs closed up the flesh in its place and the rib which the Lord God had taken for a man he made into a woman so man had woman inside him God sort of separated the two took a rib out maybe took some emotions out took some of the way the brain works out kind of separated into two right and the rib which the Lord God he made into a woman he brought her to the man and Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh Adam wasn't complete in himself Adam was a great human being I mean we we can look at our bodies and say man they can do everything everything we need to do God's given us to do in this one little body but Adam needed something else in order to be all that he could be he couldn't be it by himself God created woman why would God do that why would God say why wasn't Adam just enough why couldn't he just be there why couldn't he just be the finished product couldn't he just go out and tend the fields and do everything hood didn't God give him all the talents that he could do those things what was God building into man what did man need to have as part of his sculpture to be what got him ultimately wanted him to be there had to be relationships right man had to know how to be one with other people he needed to have another he needed to have a relationship and mankind was going to have relationships and they had to learn how to get along with one another man and woman needed to get married they needed to become one flesh they needed to yield self they needed to submit to each other they need to learn all the things that you and I learned in marriage all the things that we read about in Ephesians and Colossians and Peter says about marriage and God was doing that because it's part of the fabric of what has to be sculpted into our minds that we learn and we grow in marriage is a tremendous tremendous learning opportunity as God sculpts us forms us molds us into who he wants us to be because he has something more than mind than just our fish life today not just the 70 80 90 a hundred years we live in this life but the relationships that have to develop that are going to be there for eternity because you know there's a there's a purpose in man there's a purpose that God has in mind and he had to learn those things and it had to be built into him and sculpted into him and as we work with our wives and husbands and as we work with other people because we are always in concert with each other God is working with us now we learned that relationships are important our relationship with God and our relationships with each other because you know God created an awfully light of men he created an awfully alot of people there's an awful lot of people on earth a lot of people and you know some of them look different than us some of them talk differently than us some of them have different backgrounds than us but what he wanted was mankind to love one another he wanted one kind to come to love each other just as God Jesus Christ loved all of mankind regardless of race background socioeconomic status and he died for all mankind his will is and the ultimate goal is all of mankind will live in harmony all of mankind will be in accord if we're going to be part of that finished product we have to learn that today and that takes some time and sometimes we go through things and we learned some things as God chisels away this piece and chisels away that piece so that it can become perfect and a part of the permanent structure that he's building and so we go through things and as we go through things we might have to look at ourselves sometimes we might have to realize oh there's I didn't get that before there's a part of me there that maybe seemed like it was that's in the back of my head and there's this hundred-foot marble wall behind me who's going to see that well God sees it he sees what needs to happen he sees what needs to be perfected he sees what added to whose need to be chiseled out he nice he sees what needs to be formed to be perfectly formed and so we live in a world that isn't perfect but as we live in a world and we look at ourselves and our responses our words our attitudes we find while we're not so perfect either we've got a long way to go there's more that God has to work on us to sculpt us individually and collectively to who he wants us to be what relationships are so important to God God the Father and Jesus Christ are two beings you know what they live together in perfect harmony they live together in perfect harmony both supremely intelligent beings we don't even have adjectives to describe it but they've learned to live in harmony and they are perfectly happy and joyous millions billions of angels in heaven all get along all get along there's not the discord there was one time in history long long ago there was discord they're not there anymore God's not going to have people in his ultimate masterpiece what his end result is that don't know how to live with one another who don't allow him to chisel away the weaknesses and chisel away the faults and who don't work with him and allow him to mold the mind and develop it into the mind that Jesus Christ has the mind that he has as we go through the things of life they sometimes might seem not not fun what are we going through this for what do we learn well we should always ask what do we learn what are we learning from this because it is a part is a part of what God is building in you and me every single piece and in the end God will sit back now we will be sit back and marvel at what God has worked what God has worked you know let's turn over to Hebrews 2 Hebrews 2 you know david mused David mused as he looked at the world around him and the skies and everything that he was doing any he asked the question what is man that you're mindful of him he saw the time in his days and how people were and thought why do you even put up with mankind for why are you patient with him why are you dealing with all of this why don't you just take the hammer and take that sculpture and smash it to pieces it's not turning out the way you wanted it to right God so why do you why are you doing that but it is going the way that God wants to because he's his thoughts are higher than our thoughts he knows how to get and what the ultimate what the ultimate end is Hebrews 2 verse 6 1 testified in a certain place saying what is man that you are mindful of him or the Son of man that you take care of him well you've made him a little lower than the Angels today we're just these you know these these human beings temporary life filled with false you have made him a little lower than the Angels we can't even get along like the Angels do we squabble with each other we squabble between husband and wife we don't understand we've got to work on those things we've got to let God build build into us what he wants us to have and not just take a hammer top the sculpture he's doing you say I don't even want to be part of your sculpture anymore I just don't I just want to give up no we never give up we work at it and we we we let God continue building you've made him a little lower than the Angels you've crowned him with glory and honor you've set him over the works of your hands you've put all things in subjection under his feet you gave him this earth to have dominion over for in that he put all in subjection under him he left nothing let's not put under him but now we don't yet see all things under him we don't see the finished project before a finished product yet it's still a sculpture in process it may be 6,000 years in the making it's not finished yet we may have been we may be 20 30 40 50 60 90 years old it's not finished yet what God is working we don't yet see all things put under him but we see Jesus the example who was made a little lower than the Angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone we see what God has in mind he has in mind to give man eternal life but not all men the sculpture has to let the sculptor form him into he wants him to be it's his work we're his workmanship not our workmanship it's we're his workmanship and if we want to be part of the sculpture that he is crafting as he we go through our lives and we go through the millennia that God works with mankind in this earth we have to heed the words let him do it don't question em don't fight yield to him yield to him and submit to him and do all those things that are so contrary to our nature learn to get along with one another every other seek to understand we say seek to see what's going on understand understand because God's will is that all of mankind who end up when that finishing touch that he puts on will all be one the differences will have been resolved they'll be we have been dissolved or resolved during the time that we're in now where relationships is one of the things that God is working in us it has to be chiseled into it we have to learn those we can't run from them that's why we build in the God built in Matthew 18:15 when we have differences with one another go to one another ween your brother back that he tells husband-and-wife come together again resolve your differences way gives us the commands that we've talked about submit to one another respect one another love one another catch yourself don't do the the natural carnal thing but stop and think what does the master d'Orsay to do this as I build the sculpture of my marriage friendships church relationships employee employer relationships neighborhood relationships whatever it is use the building blocks and let him let him do that and pay attention when he starts chiseling away that's something that we need to be sure we let the sculptor chisel away if it's gonna take the form that God desires it to be well there's man so man and God added woman to man because there was this thing that God had to sculpt into mankind that all man needed was that a complete was he a complete product at that time no are we still in Genesis I'm in Genesis let's look at Genesis I know this we're gonna hurry Hebrews let's go back to Genesis 2 again as he began sculpting mankind and put him here on earth he you know built gotta learn the relationships got to work on that throughout our lives and I should mention parents and children too right because children have a responsibility in this too and the admonitions that God gives us as we work together in Genesis 2 and verse 15 we see another thing that's right there that God that God gives mankind right there as he created him the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it and he commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die you'll die so there in the Garden of Eden God part of the sculpture is I'm just not gonna man isn't complete he's got some of the things that he needs but he's not complete he's got some choices to make and I'm telling him you eat this eat of this tree right eat of this tree ingest it you got to eat this so it becomes part of your sculpture part of your life part of who you are part of your definition but mankind didn't do that they did the opposite they took the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they rejected God's command and they ate of another tree and are reaping the fruit of it you know down through history we see the fruit of it today in the chaos the confusion and the misery that mankind brings upon himself not just in the National stuff that we have going on today but in his personal eyes and down through the history the wars the misery the people who have starved the people who have never understood even what their physical potential is because they lived under autocratic regimes and never had a chance to develop even slightly the same type Society that you can see we are headed to today that the Bible says is just ahead of us the same type thing as man goes back to his old way God said you've got to eat you got to eat what I tell you to eat you've got to do the things there has to be something that you ingest mankind said no mankind said no at the time of the in the Garden of Eden my God brought Israel out of Egypt here's his people you know they've been part of their sculpture was they were in slavery for centuries in Egypt there was a reason that they were there for centuries in Egypt the cod was chiseling into that people and he brought them out gave him freedom were they complete did they have all they needed they've been brought up under under a society and under a government that was so far apart from God it wasn't even in the not even in the same ballpark what did he add what did he add to Israel to help them be complete only added law to him didn't he in Exodus 20 as they came out of Egypt we see he gave them law here's how you live the way you were living didn't lead to anything that she wanted here's the way to live pay attention to these Ten Commandments these statutes these ordinances live this way and he promised them if you live this way good things will happen you will ride the high hills of the earth you will be happy you will be the envy of the world but you gotta eat of this way you've got a take of this way you've got to follow these laws and so we find that even with that old that ancient people that God brought out of Egypt and he said you're my special treasure on earth I'm gonna work with you I'm gonna do the things that you want me to I'm gonna do the things for you but they needed a finishing touch he didn't just plant it in their minds and force him to do it here's the commandments here's the law here's the way to do it and they tried but they didn't get it done it was a perfect law if it been perfectly adhered to had it been ingested by them had they written it on their heart had they eaten of it you know things might have been so different for Egypt or for Israel but they didn't and they went the way of ancient kingdoms we know that Israel was taken into captivity Judah was taken into captivity we see you know today what the result of not paying attention to God's law here's the diet here's the spiritual diet if you want happiness if you want a cord it's pretty simple just do it but you do have to yield you do have to submit you do have to make it part of you can't just give it lip service got to do it now back in James James 1 verse 25 you know as we've been talking James James is a nice little a nice nice little book right it encompasses so much so much for us to look at so much for us to examine ourselves in takes us into you know some of the things we have to look at as God sculpts us and that we see where he's going and what needs to be sculpted out and weeded out and some things that have to be added into as he adds and takes away and molds James 1:25 he who looks into the perfect the perfect law of Liberty God's law everything he formed that most just best sir sculptor even his law is perfect nothing wrong with it nothing wrong with it except mankind doesn't want it be who looks into the perfect law of Liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this one will be blessed in what he does you know got to do it too that's part of the sculpture right that's part of the character that's guys be what's built into us know it understand it and do it can't have a perfect sculpture without that being built into it that perfect law of Liberty in chapter 2 verse 12 he again mentions the law of Liberty so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of Liberty so speak and so do talk the talk and walk the walk is what he's saying you want to be part of that final sculpture you want to be part of the un-- result of what I have you want to be part of eternity you got to talk the talk you got to walk the walk you got to eat what God gives you got to make it part of you it can't just be lip service it has to be all of you it has to be heart mind and soul you need to sculpt that in as God allows that to become part of the sculpture that he's building individually and collectively well you know Israel Israel had the law and that wasn't nice that was a kind of an additional touch that God gave them a final touch if you will at that time and God the master sculptor he wasn't fooled by what was going on he had to build israel's history into their minds and into our minds because all those things it tells us in 1st Corinthians 10 happened to them as examples to us things that we look at and learn from that get built into our fabric that are built into us and sculpt it into co-opt it into us that we think oh you know what they weren't a complete product just adding the law to the people who were called out didn't didn't work because they were too weak they didn't have what it took in order to ingest the law and to make it part of them they didn't have what it took to reject the way of the world that only leads to ruin and misery and evil they didn't have the they didn't have what it took to reject that so God knew they needed something else and in this day and age after Jesus Christ sacrificed himself that our sins could be forgiven and opened the door to the throne of God and to salvation God added something to the sculpture he's building in mankind let's go to first Corinthians 2 as he continued building now don't get the impression that I'm saying he kind of thought about it and thought oh I didn't do this and no I didn't do that no there was a plan for the beginning and the sculptor adds to it in his own time and the way he wants guess he has a end product in mind and he's the one who sees where he's going God will reveal that to that to us - we just have to let him take us to where he's going and first Corinthians 2 we read in verse 11 what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him well maybe you know I'll refer back to Genesis 2 verse 7 you remember that when God made Adam a living soul he breathed life into him and what God breathed life into Adam he breathed the spirit into him a spirit that was different than the animals that the spirit that was different than everything else on earth it was the spirit in man that allowed him to have dominion over the earth gave him the ability to reason make choices intellect coordinate things make things happen and that spirit and man is in every man and so we see a world around us that is marvelous even technology even when it doesn't work when we first begin services but it is still a marvelous thing that we have and that we have the opportunity we have look at everything man is done with the spirit and man this magnificent even the sculptors who even the sculptors you know like Vidia s-- that's the spirit and man that's the spirit and man that that sees something and has the talents and uses it but that's not enough what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God there was still something missing there was still something missing man needed a final touch he had the spirit in man God gave him the Sabbath day but he rejected that early on it's everyone remind him of that but to be a complete man to have the finishing touch on man he was going to need the Spirit of God he needed to understand the things of God God needed to open his mind and give him the ability to see where God is going what is he sculpting what is his plan and give him the ability to control self and and overcome the rebellious nature and the revolting nature in thee and the the nature that says you know I don't need to do this I don't want to do that it's my way not God's Way and maybe even convince ourselves and deceive ourselves that even when we think we're doing God's Way we're really not fully and full hearted doing it so God opened up and he gave man the spirit and God first the Spirit of God verse 12 now we've received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God these things we speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual but the natural man the man without the Holy Spirit the one who has a spirit and man you know like the world around us today because God has called just a few people today and giving it ultimately all of mankind will have it all ultimately all of mankind will have access and be called and their minds open but the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him what you think of this day and age God needs us to keep a Sabbath day for 24 hours what that's silly what you think that God thinks that we have to be bound by marriage before we sleep with each other come on that's that's antiquated we don't need that what you don't think that God intended that no matter who loves who same sex different sex no matter how we dress no matter what perversity we feel that God says we shouldn't do it you've what we got to be bound by that they don't want to hear the things of God they're foolishness to him nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned when God opens our minds when he adds and puts a finishing touch of the Holy Spirit our eyes are opened we begin to see what God is working we begin to look in His perfect law we begin to look at his perfect Word and we see oh there's things that we are do that God is doing things that we never understood before now we get what's going on now we get who we are now we get where we need to be little by little now all not all in one fell swoop but over the course of our lifetime this growing season that we're in from the time that God calls and we repent and we're baptized until the time we die we get it we grow the sculpture becomes ever more and more complete as all those things that God opens our minds into and sculpts into our lives when we let him do it we become complete you know second Timothy 3 verse 16 this Bible the Word of God that we all have in front of us here today you know it's it's the perfect law of God it's inspired by God we know that and a very you know that's the second Timothy 3:16 and it's the verse 17 of 2nd Timothy 3 it says that the man of God may be complete but the man of God may be complete because man is incomplete without the Spirit of God the man may be complete because if you don't ever have the Spirit of God or if you reject the Spirit of God you'll never be complete you'll never reach you'll never be you'll never allow the Potter to ever mold you into who he wants you to be a few books forward in Ephesians Ephesians 2 ages 2 and verse 10 it says we are his workmanship we are his workmanship he's carving you and me he's carving us collectively as a body too because we know that when God opens our minds and when he adds the Holy Spirit that he puts us as part of his body part of his family and he expects us to be together he expects us to follow him implicitly he expects us to learn from one another primarily him learn from one another get along with one another be one the way Jesus Christ and the father are one expects all those things from us we've heard all these things all their life we are his workmanship he's doing that with us created in Christ Jesus he created us for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them he knew he knew he wanted you he knew he wanted me he knew he wanted us to be a body in this area or whatever area you live in part of the body of God working with him and doing the things that he said not not saying to him no no you know I'll let you sculpt this part of me but on I don't want this sculpt you know the back of my head you don't have to sculpt that out no one's gonna see that oh no oh no the master sculptor he sees he sees it all and he wants it done in detail just the way that sculptor Phidias wanted everything to the perfect detail and that's why whatever that's Statue of Zeus that he created was one of the seven wonders of the world because the detail was so magnificent it defied the imagination how long did it take him you know God is even more detailed how many times that we talked about every live by every word of God know the detail learn the detail and when there's a detail you've looked over and it comes to your attention build it into your life let God call you know sculpt it in you know I I don't know much about sculpting but I imagine when when you chisel out things you don't just take one chisel and it's perfect right you chisel you chisel a little bit here it's just a little bit there and all of a sudden after many chisels and and things it becomes exactly the way at once God works the same way with us we might see something in ourselves begin to understand something in ourselves that needs to be looked at and little by little as we let guy chip away at it he'll teach us we'll get to that point I have to be patient with him we have to let him do it we have to work with him we have to let the Holy Spirit that he's added to us is one of the finishing touches in route to the ultimate finishing touch work with us guide us and direct us and so we see you know God continuing to work continuing to work there's a lot of work I think if we stop and think for all of us to let God do but we also learned we have to be with him we have to let him do it he's you know we can resist the chiseling we can resist the rounding we can resist the molding if we're smart if we're thinking if we're wise we're not gonna resist what the master Potter with the master architect with the master sculptor is doing we're gonna let him finish it and bring it to completion and we know what that completion is as we go through life and what God says you know to you and me it's done it's done your life is over I'm gonna plant you in the ground I'm gonna plant you in the ground and as we read in 1st Corinthians 15 last week or the week before you know he's gonna resurrect us he's gonna put the finishing touch on mankind those in though of the firstfruits who have lived their life who have loud God to sculpt them into who he wants them to be and at the time that that their time is over whether it be by death or the return of Jesus Christ that he will add the finishing touch of eternal life and the finishing touch of a body that we can't even imagine you know on 1st Corinthians 2 right before the vs. we read about the spirit and mad spirit of God it says I hasn't seen ear hasn't heard it hasn't even entered into the hearts of man the wonders that God has prepared for those that love him we can't understand it today we have to have faith we have to have belief we have to we have to let God do it and let him hone that vision in us and that spirit of yield in this that spirit of submission that spirit of surrender that spirit of thy will thy will be done the finishing touch will come for the first fruits at the time of Jesus Christ when he returns that they're given eternal life the same thing that will happen to the rest of mankind and their time when God works with and gives foot's the finishing touches on them and as we read in Revelation in revelation 22 you don't need to turn there 21 to 22 the time for the world will be done the earth will be done - it'll be that this earth of piss appear will vanish replaced by what God has in mind something so magnificent we can't even imagine it let's go back to James James 5 what do we do through this you know as we live through times that we've lived through times that we've lived through in the past times that we'll live through whatever comes next our way whether it's good times or bad times and we know there are some times it'll try the soul coming ahead of us you know God tells us and we just read this last week in our Bible study verse 7 James 5 therefore be patient be patient let God work his work let God sculpt it in his time let him bring it to the perfect conclusion the perfect final product that he is taking it to be patient trust him spend the time don't get mad don't get angry we read in Psalm 37 don't fret over those things be patient and learn brethren until the coming of the Lord verse 8 as he talks about how even in our life the farmer has to wait he doesn't plant the seed one day and have a full crop the next he has to go through the process during the summer growing period and he doesn't just sit back in his house and look out the window and say hey when October or September gets here's gonna be crop he's got work to do during that time he has to do some things to make sure the weeds are there and everything else that's happening the farmer waits for the precious fruit verse 8 you be patient brethren be patient let the master sculptor finish his work let me conclude in Philippians Philippians 1 and verse 6 God knows what he's doing we have to trust in him we have to let him and work with him and yield and submit and do the things to let our master potter complete his job and verse 6 it says all of us let's be confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you he will complete it until the day of jesus christ

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Published: Sat Jun 06 2020