JESUS, LIFT ME UP

SERMON STARTER

          One birthday when I was a newly ordained pastor my mom sent me a card. The outside of the card read, “Remember when you were a little child, you lifted your arms up to me and I picked you up and held you over my head?”  There was a silhouette of a mother holding up her baby. When I opened the card up, it read, “Well, I still do hold you up. . .before God’s Throne of Grace.”  This time there was the silhouette of the same mother on her knees, kneeling before God’s Throne.

              

 

JESUS, LIFT ME UP! 

When we allow Jesus to lift us up three things happen:

1) We are loved, accepted, comforted and healed.

Acts 17:28 (NKJV)
²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'

 

 

2) Irresistibly, we lift Him up in response.  John 12:32

³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

 

3) We die to self as we do so. Galatians 2:20

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

 

          Our heart's cry is to experience the same heartfelt intimacy that occurs between a mother and child to happen between us and the Heavenly Father. Father, Lift Me Up!      

Pastor Phil  <><<

January 03, 2016

Sheepfold Ministries, Pastor Phil Roland

 

JESUS, LIFT ME UP

Numbers 21:1-9 - John 3:14-17

“A great part of our humanity is tied up in alienation and abandonment. God has innately placed in our hearts a need for God and a need for one another. We are very much God’s needy child who needs to be lifted up into the Heavenly Father’s arms of acceptance, love and comfort.”

  Pastor Phil   <><<

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:14

³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” ³³ This He said, signifying by what death He would die. John 12:32

 

Nancy Honeytree’s Song – “Jesus, Lift Me Up, Hal-le-lu-jah!”

The pioneer and Queen of Charismatic Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxzqdhByB7k

 

I. WHO NEEDS TO BE LIFTED UP? Numbers 21:8

⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."

          A. The Children of Israel in the Wilderness who were Snake Bit

                    1. Discouragement overtook them

                    2. They spoke words of contempt against the Most High

                      Number 21:5

⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have

  you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there

 is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
            a. The “worthless bread” was “Man-na”

            b. It was like Coriander wafers + Honey –Exodus 16:31

³¹ And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was

  like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers

  made with honey.

            c. Manna sustained them thru the whole journey

                    3. They were ungrateful and mouthy

                    4. God sent their punishment in the form of Fiery Serpents

                    5. Venomous Snakes whose bite resulted in death

                    6. The Bites were fatal and “hurt like fire!” (Inflammation)

          B. Those bitten by the Snake – Romans 3:23

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

            1. Remember the Snake’s Curse? See Genesis 3

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done

 

JESUS, LIFT ME UP, cont. p.2

 

this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you

and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

 

                    2. All of mankind since the Fall in the Garden have been bitten

                    3. The dying were everywhere - Number 21:6

                                        ⁶ So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the

                          people; and many of the people of Israel died.
                                    a. Does God allow BAD things happen to His people?

                              b. Yes, and sometimes He sends calamities Himself

                    C. The people petitioned Moses for relief - Numbers 21:7

                                        ⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned,

                          for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the

                          LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed

                          for the people.
                                    a. They Confessed their sin to Moses

                              b. Moses Intercedes before God in their behalf

                              c. God gave them a remedy: Look and Live - Num. 21:9

                                                            ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and

                                      so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at

                                      the bronze serpent, he lived.

                              d. If you are truly repentant: DO SOMETHING!

                              e. Every revelation by God DEMANDS a response

 

II. EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN SNAKE BIT - John 3:14

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

          A. We are actually conceived and born in sin - Psalm 51:5

                      ⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother  conceived me.

                              1. Is the sexual act of conception sinful?

                              2. No, but in our DNA is our basic sin nature

                              3. McGuffy Reader,

                                        In Adam's fall, we sinned all               

          B. What about Latin, "tabula rasa?" - Clean Slate?

                              1. Mankind is NOT born with a clean slate

                              2. "Tabula Rasa" is simply a philosopher's notion

                              3. Or, a Behavioral Psychologist's conception

          C. Mankind has always needed a Savior

 

III. LOOK AT JESUS ON HIS CROSS AND LIVE - John 3:16

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
          A. Jesus became God's Brass Serpent Impaled on a pole - Ps. 22:6

 

JESUS, LIFT ME UP, cont. p.3

 

                    ⁶ But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the                         people.

                    1. Our Natural inclination is to turn our faces - Isaiah 53:3

 

                                        ³ He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and

                          acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

                          He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

                    2. Jesus took the curse / consequences of our sin - Gal. 3:13

                                        ¹³ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become

                          a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a               tree"),  See Deut. 21:23

          B. Jesus became a curse for us as He died for our sins

                    1. Will you ask for His help to lift you up today?

                    2. Accepting him and Inviting Him into your life is a GREAT                                way to start the New Year!

 

LOOK AND LIVE!

 

 

JESUS, LIFT ME UP!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FATHER LIFT ME UP

        Nancy Honeytree

 

Like a lit-tle child

          Je-sus told me to come,

And the Fa-ther lifts me up

          Up to Hea-ven, up to home.

 

Father, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

Father, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

 

If I be lif-ted up

          From the earth, Je-sus said.

I-----will draw

          E-very per-son un-to Me!

 

If I die to self,

          Je-sus told me I would live.

Cru-ci-fied with Je-sus

          I-----want to be!

 

Je-sus, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

Je-sus, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

 

High up a-bove

          All powers and all things,

There is a Throne Room

          Where the faithful sing!

 

Ho-ly, Ho-ly, Ho-ly

          To the Lamb that was slain!

Through the Ho-ly Spir-it,

          I call up-on His Name!

 

Spir-it, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

Spir-it, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

JESUS, LIFT ME UP!, Text:

Numbers 21:1-9
¹ The king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South, heard that Israel was coming on the road to Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.
² So Israel made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."
³ And the LORD listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of that place was called Hormah.
⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.
⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
⁶ So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."
⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

 

John 3:14-17
¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FATHER LIFT ME UP

        Nancy Honeytree

 

Like a lit-tle child

          Je-sus told me to come,

And the Fa-ther lifts me up

          Up to Hea-ven, up to home.

 

Father, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

Father, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

 

If I be lif-ted up

          From the earth, Je-sus said.

I-----will draw

          E-very per-son un-to Me!

 

If I die to self,

          Je-sus told me I would live.

Cru-ci-fied with Je-sus

          I-----want to be!

 

Je-sus, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

Je-sus, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

 

High up a-bove

          All powers and all things,

There is a Throne Room

          Where the faithful sing!

 

Ho-ly, Ho-ly, Ho-ly

          To the Lamb that was slain!

Through the Ho-ly Spir-it,

          I call up-on His Name!

 

Spir-it, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

Spir-it, lift me up, Hal-le-lu-ya!

          Holy is Your Name!

 

 

 

 

 

Treatment for a Venomous Snake Bite

1) Call 911 for professional help

          a. Keep the Victim calm

          b. Panic will spread the venom

2) Take note of the snake's appearance

          a. Don't try to catch the Snake

          b. Don't even try to get close to the snake

3) Move away from the snake

4) Keep the victim still and Immobilize them

5) Allow professionals to administer Anti-Venom