Hillview Family and Friends!

Ushers and greeters. We can create an alternate schedule. If anyone is interested, please see LaTanya Dunn.

Sis. Debbie will be having Children’s ministry 1st through 4th Sundays.  On the 1st Sunday the children will  do special projects. Please text Sis. Debbie if your child will not be in attendance. 5th Sunday no children’s ministry.

March 1st– First day of Women’s History Month.

March 8th– Daylight Savings time (Spring forward)

March 8th   March 8th- Annual Business meeting at 1pm. Lunch will be served after service. If you are  unable to attend, return the attached ballot via email.

March 12th– Funeral Service for Joyce Hanna will be held at the Kansas City Community Church.  Viewing at 9:30am. Service 10:30am. Repass will be at Hillview at 3pm.

March 14th Church Summit at 8 am-12 pm in the fellowship Hall. Sign-up sheet is now  available.

March 15th– Baptismal service. If anyone wants to be baptized, please see Pastor Dexter.

March 21st Board Meeting at 9am.

March 29th– Palm Sunday.

 

Offering Envelopes are located on the wall outside of the sound booth.

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It is quite possible that most of us don’t watch the nightly news like we used to. We don’t watch it because it is primarily bad news. Because we don’t watch the news doesn’t mean it won’t have an impact on our lives.

We can derive some encouragement from today’s text, especially verse 9. The key word from this verse is “godly.” What does it mean to be godly? It refers to a life of devotion, reverence, and piety toward God, manifesting in actions and character that reflect His holiness. Your motivation is love of God and living according to His will.

One of the things we must do as godly men and women is not love the world.

1 John 2:15-17

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For everything in the world– the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does– comes not from the Father but from the world.

17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

I heard a preacher say, “The world doesn’t want what the church has to offer. Unfortunately, in the church there are still men and women that desire what the world has to offer them.” 

2 Corinthians 6:17

17 “Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

This verse tells us to separate from worldly behaviors, values, and idolatry, rather than physical isolation.

Pray that the Spirit of God will enable you to resist those things of the world that still attract you, whether openly or in secret. We can have an in-depth discussion about these worldly attractions on Wednesday evening.

 

Let’s say for the sake of argument that everyone present in service today meets this criterion of godliness. You are a godly person living in a “sinful world” that appears to be spiraling out of control. At your appointed time you will need God to rescue you. We have three examples in our text where God is doing something, either rescuing the righteous or holding the unrighteous for the day of judgement.

 

We don’t want to be like the man that found himself on the roof of his house during a flood crying out for God to save him. A man in a boat came by offering him help and he said no thank you, God is going to rescue me. Later a helicopter flew over and offered to rescue the man, but again he refused because God was going to rescue him. Finally, the man died. He asked God why didn’t He rescue me? God said, I sent a boat and a helicopter. When rescue comes, we want to be able to receive it.

 

We’re first informed what God did to some angels that had sinned. There are several passages of scripture that talk about fallen angels. I’ll use Revelation 2:7-10 as a reference for today’s message. (Luke 10:18, Jude 1:6)

Rev 2:7-10

7 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.

9 The great dragon was hurled down– that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God Day and night, has been hurled down.

“It is not necessary to debate the hidden mysteries of this verse in order to get the main message: God judges rebellion and will not spare those who reject His will. If God judged the angels, who in many respects are higher than men, then certainly He will judge rebellious men.”[1]

Second, we are reminded that God didn’t spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but spared Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.

Was Noah a righteous/godly man, or was he intrigued by the things of the world?

Genesis 6:9-18

9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.

13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.

17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark– you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

The scripture doesn’t tell us about the righteousness of Noah’s wife or children, but because of his righteousness his wife and three sons, and their wives were also rescued in the ark.

God always has a remnant, a faithful minority, even during times of widespread disobedience or judgement.

Romans 11:1-5

1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah– how he appealed to God against Israel:

3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”?

4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

Noah and his family were the remnant saved from the flood.

The third example from our text of God rescuing the godly involves Lot.  A short background about Lot.  They say he was:

• A successful businessman.
• When making decisions he tended to choose the easiest course of action.
• When given a choice he usually thought of himself first.
• He was a benefactor of his uncle Abraham.
• When Abraham entertained three men, one being the Lord and found out they were going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing Lot lived in Sodom, he pleaded for the righteous that lived in the cities.
• Lot was rescued with his wife, and his daughters. The men that were pledged to be married to his daughters could have been rescued as well, but they refused to leave.
• They were instructed not to look back at the city as they fled, but Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

From our text Lot was referred to as a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

An in-depth study of Noah or Lot lets us know they were not perfect. Yet they met the criterion to be considered godly and were rescued in their time of need.

There are other examples in scripture of God rescuing godly men:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Daniel 3:13-18

13 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So, these men were brought before the king,

14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?

15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.

17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.

18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

God rescued them from the furnace.

Daniel

Daniel 6:6-12

6 So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: “O King Darius, live forever!

7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.

8 Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered– in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”

9 So King Darius put the decree in writing.

10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

12 So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or man except to you, O king, would be thrown into the lions’ den?” The king answered, “The decree stands– in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.”

Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, but the lions did not harm him. God rescued him.

Peter

Acts 12:1-11

1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.

2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.

3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.

7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.

9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.

10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

Peter, a godly man was rescued by the Lord.

God will rescue the godly man or woman, but He will also hold the ungodly for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

While we live on the earth, and choose to live a righteous life, we will come under attack by the world. Rescue is still available today.

Study Questions

1. Do you watch the evening news on a regular basis? Why or why not?
2. Describe what it means to you to be godly.
3. Has it been easy for you to separate yourself from your worldly past?
4. Are you still identifying worldly practices in your life that need to be removed?
5. When you need to be rescued, will you recognize who is rescuing you?
6. If angels were seduced by Satan to follow him, causing them to be cast out of Heaven, how confident are you in resisting Satan’s temptations?
7. What is your impression of Noah? Does his testimony inspire you?
8. Could you be part of a remnant of God? Why or why not?
9. Do you believe God still rescues the righteous? Do you have an example you would like to share?

[1] The Wiesbe Bible Commentary, OT, by Warren W. Wiersbe, publisher David C. Cook, 940.

Continue to pray for the sick and shut-ins and their caregivers. Prayer is needed for our entire congregation as we are all dealing with spoken and unspoken needs and requests.

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