The Biggest Word in The Bible - IF

[Boaz]

Contingencies
The Biggest Word in The Bible - IF
Genesis 4:3-7

Almost everything in life; natural, physical, and even spiritual has contingencies. Things which are dependent upon other things to work the way they were created to.

In the natural there are many examples of this:
   1. There can be no sunrise without a night of darkness
   2. There can be no growth without the rain
   3. You can’t have a rainbow till the storm is over
   4. You can not have a harvest without planting seeds
5. You can’t have a butterfly without the passing away of the caterpillar
In the physical realm there are also many contingencies:
   1. If you heat water past 212º F you will get steam
   2. If you cool water below 32º F you will get ice
   3. If you throw something in the air it will come back
      down unless you fill it with something lighter than    
      air.
   4. If you have a lever long enough and a fulcrum you
      can move an object regardless of the weight or size
   5. If you have two magnets and put like ends together
      they will repel each other, opposite ends together
      and they will attract each other.
In the Spiritual realm God has also set some contingencies.
   1. If you want the Holy Ghost you must first repent
   2. If you want a blessing, it requires obedience.
• Every blessing of God is contingent upon our obedience!

There are hundreds of Scriptures which have examples of obedience required for God to move in our behalf.

1. Able’s sacrifice could have been accepted – IF
   Gen 4:7* If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
   
2. The children of Israel would be spared the diseases God put upon the Egyptians – IF
   Ex 15:26* And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

3. We can be a peculiar treasure to God – IF
   Ex 19:5* Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:



4. God will be on our side, fighting our enemies – IF
   Ex 23:22* But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.


5. God will Bless us – IF
   De 11:26-28 * Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

[Boaz]

6. The choice is ours – IF
De 30:15-20* See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
De 30:19-20* I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

7. Prosperity and Good Success are available – IF
   Jos 1:8* This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.




8. God will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing – IF
   Mal 3:10* Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Mal 3:11-12* And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.


9. We will be presented Holy, Unblameable, and Unreprovable in His sight – IF
   Col 1:22-23* In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

10. We will be Partakers of Christ – IF
   Heb 3:14* For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;

The biggest word in the whole Bible is that little 2 letter word IF. For all of the Blessings & Promises of God carry the contingencies of our faithfulness and our obedience to God’s Word in our lives. What we do with these words is up to us. We each will stand before God and will give account for what we have done with our lives. Our obedience or lack of it will determine the result of that Judgement. How will we stack up. Will we be faithful unto the end? Will we hold fast the precious faith and promises of God and live pleasing in His sight? Only time will tell…

Today I would like us to pray for one another as we come to the end of this service. There are needs of Healing, Deliverance, and Salvation in each of us. We would like to pray for everyone who would like to be prayed for. I believe we can begin 2006 with a powerful move of the Spirit of God. Let us gather together at the front this afternoon and pray.

IF you will come, God will Bless and you will be touched by His presence here today.  Let’s put that little word to the test and see if His Word will come alive in each of us. Let us begin every day this year with the knowledge of IF we will honor, Worship, and Obey His Commandments WE WILL BE BLESSED. Can we do it alone – NO – We need his Spirit to do the work in us.
IF we will believe…