Boundaries - We All Need Them

Subject - We All Need Fences In Our Lives
by Rick Welborne

Proverbs 22:28 (NKJV)

28 Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set.

Proverbs 23:10-14 (NIV)
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.
Deuteronomy 19:14 (NLT)
14 "When you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
Deuteronomy 27:17 (NIV)
17 "Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor's boundary stone." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
1. We all need boundaries in our lives...we all need fences...we all need limitations set for us.
–Even though we do not have as many noticeable boundaries as we used to...we all need spiritual and moral boundaries set up in our lives.
–Because of where we live and because of so many horses and cattle...fences are absolutely necessary...oh, what fun when a gate is left open or a fence broken down.
–Maybe there are still a few here that remember a day when there was a distinction between the church and the world...fences seem to be disappearing.
–It appears that the pendulum has swung the other direction where the evidence of boundaries are all but gone...the church has its own political correctness.
John Hyde (Praying Hyde) - The most effective way to draw people to Christ is to look like Christ. Today’s prayer-less churches have come to believe that the most effective way to draw the world to Christ is by looking like the world.
–I agree with him in what he says but it seems that we have graduated even further where not only do we look like them but we live like them also.
–Being relevant and in touch can be a positive thing but when we begin to indulge in the same things and have the same attitudes as they do...where are the boundaries.
–We have become so seeker sensitive that we have to ask the question...who is changing?
Paul says:
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (NLT)
19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.
20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law.
21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.
22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.
–So many have used these verses to excuse them living compromising lifestyles they say to win the lost...Paul said I obey the law of Christ...I don’t step over the fence.
–I think we have sacrificed enough of our own children on the altar of compromise...there must be clear boundaries...the fences must be clear. Example of Joshua in the street.
2. When we move the boundary stone or we jump the fences we are trespassing and trespassing is sin.
Ephesians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)...
–We were all dead in trespasses and sin but Jesus has set us free, by His grace we have been saved...why do we want to jump over the fence into the pig pen?
–Fences or boundaries have been placed in our lives to keep us from going where we shouldn’t go and to keep us from doing what we shouldn’t do. Traffic laws.
–I said it a couple of months ago but it bears repeating...when you are where you shouldn’t be, doing what you shouldn’t be doing, at a time you shouldn’t be there...bad things happen.
–Almost every morning I see on the news that someone at a bar the night before, between 12 and 3 AM is hurt or killed...If you play with snakes...you get bit.
–Fences or walls are there to keep the enemy from getting to us to do us harm...borders may be important for countries who do not want bad people coming in. You think?
–God tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, yet we cross that line because of compromise and some emotional or physical attachment...we reap the consequences.
–We all need to know that there are limitations (fences) in our lives for our own safety.
–Adam and Eve had incredible freedom and blessings and really only had one fence:
Genesis 2:15-17 (NKJV)
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
–When we step over the boundaries and do our own thing...we die spiritually. God was not trying to keep them from anything...on the contrary He was blessing them. Every tree but 1.
–We go after that thing, that person, that relationship that God has said in His Word that has fences around it...we trespass...we sin...we hurt ourselves spiritually...we hurt others.
–Let me throw this in for free...I was listening to a dear brother pray the other day while a few of us were receiving communion...his prayer was beautiful and sincere.
–He said "Thank you, Lord, that your blood has forgiven our past, present, and future sins."
As I thought about his prayer and what it meant the Lord spoke to me.
–It is not only about forgiveness of sin...it is also about the consequences of sin...what sin does to you and the people in your life.
Romans 14:7 (NKJV)
7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
–You see when you trespass...when you sin...it always impacts others in some way. You are on someone else’s property...you are hurting someone else when you sin.
–Do you think Adam and Eve really believed that their disobedience would have affected mankind in such a way...what do you think your trespassing is doing.
–What about those children who are watching you...what about the lost at work who desperately need salvation but see you compromising...you may be even proud of it.
–What about the neighbors who know your living arrangement does not line up with your Christian beliefs...your condition does not match your confession. Bad witness.
–Is it possible that our crossing fences is keeping people out of the Kingdom of God?
–You may have never thought about this verse having to do with boundaries but please stay with me: The previous verse talks about correcting a son...giving him fences.
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV)
18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
Proverbs 29:18 (NLT)
18 When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
–You see, the fence or the boundary is vision, it is revelation, it is divine guidance and when the fence is crossed what happens...people perish, they run wild, and they cast off restraint.
3. So how are these boundaries or fences established in our lives?
–Proverbs 28:19 says we must have vision, we must have revelation, and we must have divine guidance...I guess the key would be...where do I find these things?
Also, let me throw in here...it is not always that we do not know where to get the revelation or guidance or vision as much as it is we just want to do our own thing. Where do I find them?
A. We get our boundaries thru our parents especially if they are godly Christians.
Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
B. We get our boundaries from the Word of God and our study of it.
Psalm 119:10-11 (NLT)
10 I have tried hard to find you— don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
C. We get our boundaries from being filled with Holy Spirit...we should never try to understand God’s Word without the leading of Holy Spirit.
John 16:5-8 (NLT)
5 "But now I am going away to the One who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going.
6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you.
7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
D. We get our boundaries by the conviction of Holy Spirit...He will convict of sin...He will show us how righteous God is...He will convince us of judgment to come.
–A danger we need to watch for is 1^st Generation believers have convictions born out of prayer...without prayer 2^nd Generation believers look at the convictions as tradition.
–With 3^rd Generation believers tradition becomes legalism that is used to beat people over the head with trying to keep folks in the fences of the church. Five steps to keep us in the boundaries.
1. Conversion - this is the gate - we must become new creatures in Christ...we must be changed.
2. Contrition - we must be willing to humble ourselves before God so He can lift us up. Humility needs to come back to the church...study the cross.
3. Consumption - we must tarry until He comes and wait until we are filled with Holy Spirit.
4. Conviction - we must allow Holy Spirit to convict us of sin, righteousness, and Jesus soon coming.
5. Confidence - we must have confidence in God that He will keep us from crossing the fence or falling.
Jude 1:20-25 (NIV)
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--

25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.