Introduction
If there is anything that has changed the course of history, it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
His resurrection followed by the empowering Holy Spirit turned Europe and Asia Minor on its ear in the first century AD.
Yet as we think about the resurrection, there are a lot of implications for us as it is a vital part of our faith.
As Easter approaches, we celebrate this miraculous feat and the foundation of our faith.
The resurrection of Jesus sets Christianity apart from all other world religions.
The resurrection of Jesus opens the door that grace is the basis of salvation rather than works.
Describing the Biblical Text
Why do we focus on this text today?
This is the text that Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost when he preached the first Christian sermon and 3000 people came to faith in Jesus.
This being Peter’s Biblical support for the resurrection therefore makes it a compelling text to examine.
Narrate the Contextual application
So, this morning we will examine this text and some of the implications of it as it was cited by Peter.
As we look at it, it will be in the context of what this week represents, that being the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 16 is really a psalm of victory and promise.
It is a psalm that holds the follower of Christ to the promises made by God.
Life Application (thesis)
This morning as we consider this text, I would like us to explore the idea that the very promise of Jesus resurrection becomes the victorious promise of all who will follow Jesus Christ.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In looking at this idea we will see 3 victories that the follower of Jesus has because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We have received a righteousness that is provided by God and therefore sufficient for God.
Take a look at verse 2 if you will
I say to the Lord, you are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Now, when you think about who was writing this, you have got to think about the grace of God.
Our writer is King David who was the 8th son of Jesse the son of Obed from Bethlehem.
He was the kid who was watching the sheep when Samuel the prophet and the priest came to see Jesse to anoint one of His sons king of Israel to replace King Saul.
David was the most unlikely choice as he was the youngest and the least experienced in life and in living.
Yet God chose David to do great things and look at David’s response to that choosing
I have no good apart from you.
David is stating in this psalm something that many people who follow Christ fro years never get.
Our best efforts to please God are but filthy rags apart from God’s grace in our lives.
In the New Testament, we will find a word used that is very important.
It is the word propitiation.
It literally means to satisfy God’s wrath by paying the necessary price.
Now, why does God’s wrath have to be satisfied?
In Ephesians 2 we find that human being are by their very nature children of wrath.
This means that we are condemned before God and deserving His righteous judgment.
In other words, we are guilty and there ain’t nuttin you girls can do about it.
Why are we guilty?
We are guilty because we are sinners and we have broken God’s law and therefore since he demands perfection, we have failed and stand utterly condemned.
This is why only God’s righteousness can satisfy the perfect standard of God.
So the question then becomes how do we receive that righteousness?
I would invite you to turn to what I feel is one of the most important verses in the entire New Testament.
Romans 4:25 – He was delivered for our offenses and He was raised for our justification.
This verse truly connects the death of Jesus and the sacrifice on the cross to the application of God’s righteousness to us in what particular act?
It is the resurrection of Jesus.
His being raised is what justifies or makes the sinner righteous.
His death paid the price that satisfied the wrath of God and his resurrection applied that which the psalmist called good to our lives.
Our first victory is that we have received the perfect righteousness of Jesus in His resurrection.
Our second victory is that we share an inheritance with the risen Jesus.
Verse 5 pants the picture of the feast.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.
The Lord is the best.
Back in 1985 when I was the youth pastor at Enterprise Baptist Church in Littleton, NC the Pastor and I went into Raleigh to the sign of the Fish Christian Book Store.
That place was like a funhouse for pastors.
They had music that you could listen to before you bought it, they books galore, and they had t-shirts.
That is what caught my eye. It was a lime fluorescent green t-shirt with the words printed in painted on lettering, “God is Awesome.”
That was a boss t-shirt.
That shirt found its way out of the house soon after Valerie found her way in.
But that is sentiment found in verse 5.
God is awesome.
He is the best portion and the finest cup.
He is my feast.
Then David mixes his metaphor just a bit.
You hold my lot
All that I have is from you and you draw my life’s boundaries where you want them to be.
You make me what I am.
Indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.
1 Peter 1 tells us this.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
First of all, what do we see?
We are born again by God through the resurrection.
This simply means what we said before.
God has applied His righteousness to our lives.
But in doing so, we now have an inheritance that is imperishable.
It cannot be tarnished and is never subject to any thing that might lead to its decay or its demise.
It is undefiled.
There is nothing in the inheritance that we receive from God that can lead us anywhere but to Him.
It is perfect without spot or blemish.
It will not fade away.
I had shingles blow off my roof last weekend but the inheritance of God is not subject to the wears of age.
You know that my least favorite verse of the Hymn Amazing Grace is the last verse.
But when we’ve been there ten thousand years, our inheritance will be just as fresh as it was the day we went to be with the Lord.
Let’s look at our third victory this morning.
We have security in the risen savior.
Look at verse 7 [read 7-11]
I like to ride the roller coasters. And I feel pretty secure when that bar comes down.
That security is nothing compared t our security in the Lord.
Notice the end of verse 8
I shall not be shaken.
Then there is the very passage that Peter quotes referring to Jesus, Verse 10.
We are secure in Christ because it is the very grace that applied his righteousness to our lives which also keeps us secure in Him.
God has promised never to leave nor forsake anyone who has trusted Christ as their savior.
We are promised that we would have life abundant and eternal.
We have been promised that our lives would be new creations of God.
Don’t we all want that kind of security?
Don’t we all want to have the kind of joy that is described in this text?
That Joy is a gift of the Spirit of God and He brings to those who call on Jesus.
Won’t you call on Him today?
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Saturday, March 01, 2008
I Am -- I Am the True Vine -- John 15:1-17
1. Introduction
I have preached probably 15 sermons on connection since I have been at LABC and probably at least one other sermon on this very text.
But, in the kingdom of God what we call connection in the modern vernacular what we called relationship 20 years ago, what was called community, loosely speaking 50 years ago, is simply the idea of having 3 different spheres.
Of course the three spheres are a relationship with God, A relationship with the body of Christ and a relationship with the lost.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
This is the final or our ‘I am’ sayings.
BTW if you want to se some stained glass that beautifully depicts these seven sayings, head over to Wesley Memorial Methodist church and check out the stained glass in the main sanctuary.
This is spoken in the upper room discourse as Jesus is teaching his disciples about their relationship to the Son.
In terms of the vine, Jesus is discussing the grapevine here.
It is a common image that all of his disciples would understand.
When you ride down the road, you don’t see vineyards with vines spreading all over the place you see vines that are well groomed and well maintained.
If you let the branches grow everywhere, then the energy that could be used for the fruit is used up in leaves and in stems.
It is a balance you need enough leaves to photosynthesize and enough stems to support the right amount of fruit.
3. Narrate the Contextual application
The context for us is our connection to the vine.
Are we bearing fruit and are we allowing God to deal with our lives in such a way that we are always prepared and ready to bear fruit for Him.
Now just to consider one more thing before we actually get to the body of this message.
Just exactly is the fruit that we are supposed to bear.
A grapevine bears grapes so we are expected to bear whatever the Father, the husbandman, the vinedresser is preparing us to bear.
When we look at the gifts that are listed in Romans 12 we see that we might be called to bear different kinds of fruit but it will always be the fruit the Father intended us to bear.
4. Life Application (thesis)
The key then is connection.
We must be connected to Jesus, the vine, in order to bear fruit for God.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at tat thesis this morning, I want us to consider that a vine attaches itself to its trellis with tendrils.
As we are seeking our attachment to the vine, let’s examine 4 tendrils that will help us to see how being connected to the vine enables us to bear fruit.
We must let God prune us for growth.
I want to look at something that a friend of mine back in the 80’s used to try to make me believe.
He was a huge Jimmy Swaggart fan and as you know Swaggart was a charismatic.
One of the defining doctrinal tenets of Pentecostalism and charismatics is the belief that one can lose his salvation.
He would always bring me back to this passage.
He would look at verse 2
Then he would read to verse 6 and relate that to former branches burning in hell.
But, understanding the husbandry that the hearers of Jesus understood, verse 2 is the regular pruning of the suckers from the vine. They will never bear fruit because they will be taken away before they do and the branches that are intended to bear fruit, you and me, will receive what we need to do so.
The 6th verse does not refer to any type of branch but to the person who never trusted or abided in Jesus Christ.
Now in case you have an Arminian friend who would try to convince you of this point from this verse you at least have context to defend the idea of God keeping His own.
What does it mean to let God prune us for growth?
Well, we all have things that in our lives distract us from serving Christ and doing the work of the gospel.
But if truly want to serve Christ and do the work of the gospel, then we must be willing to let God come into our lifers as an interloper who will strip from us anything that would hinder or prevent our service to Him.
The problem is that most followers of Christ are not willing to do that most of us just want to live our lives for ourselves and our own agendas take center stage to the agenda that God would have for us.
Hence pruning takes place.
The unproductive things in our lives begin to move out of the limelight and towards the back burner.
Our passions and our desires become more and more conformed to that which is Christ.
Right now, you might be seeing your interest wane in areas that surprise you.
I used to love to listen to the radio but it is harder and harder for me to find songs on the radio that I like.
Speaking of songs I like, I am nuts about Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace.
But back to our being pruned, God will take away anything in our lives that is not bringing Him honor and we should look for, expect, and desire that.
We should be disappointed by the things that have not yet been pruned and look forward to him doing His work.
Another tendril that we might see here is that bearing fruit gives glory to God.
Every summer, Paul Wilson will announce on a Wednesday night that he has left vegetables that he has grown in his garden on the back table in the FLC.
You know what happens, there is a stampede to the back when the final amen is said in the service and most of the vegetables are taken pretty quickly; don’t ask me how I know that.
But I have to believe that Paul feels pretty good that he is able to bless people with his garden.
So when you get all the crookneck squash and the tomatoes and all the cucumbers and all the butterbeans, it gives glory to the gardener.
Look at verse 8 and please note that I am going to be slightly out of order this morning.
The very first question and answer of the Westminster confession’s shorter catechism is what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
All that you are, all that you have, and all that you ever will be should be bringing Glory to God as we are living to serve Him.
There is really no other purpose for us to be connected to God if it is not for His glory.
Yet when we think of salvation, we tend to think of it in mostly human terms.
We think of it in terms from our side of the equation.
I am going to heaven; I have eternal life; my sins are forgiven.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Salvation and all of its benefits are to one end and one end alone and that is the glory of God.
Our third tendril is that we must bear the fruit that we are appointed.
It is important for us to see that the only way we can bear fruit is that we are connected to Jesus.
Notice in this text he said that apart from Him we can do nothing.
Yet in Him, we are fruitful followers of Jesus Christ.
Think then about how we are fruitful for God.
We have some kind of gift that is especially given to us to better serve Him.
I’ll even bet that many of us in the past have taken some kind of battery that has told us what our spiritual gifts would be.
Some of you just know that you are good at certain things.
I’m a big picture thinker and details just get in my way.
But I realize that without details, the big picture is never realized.
It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle with no pieces.
The picture on the box just doesn’t accomplish anything.
The church is a body in which we are all an important part.
Remember the pruned branches are pruned to bear more fruit.
Only you really know if you are bearing you appointed fruit in the amounts that God is glorified.
When you think about that, where do you stand?
Is your fruit what you know God wants it to be?
Is the nature of the fruit that you bear in the kingdom that which ultimately gives glory to God?
Here is a final tendril for your consideration.
We must love the rest of the vine.
I think we all need to realize that we are all connected.
We are connected to one another through our connection to Jesus.
Look at verse 12 to the end.
We are commanded to love each other.
Some people might read that and think how can I love them if I don’t feel love?
If we are commanded to do something then we must see it as more than a feeling.
If we look at 12 Corinthians 13, we will not see touchy feely stuff there.
It is all about how we treat each other isn’t it.
How would a vine bear any fruit if the branches turn on each other?
It is like these people whose white blood cells start to attack healthy red corpuscles.
Their bodies are working against themselves.
We cannot afford to do that in the church.
If we do, then the vine is sick and cannot bear fruit.
We cannot accomplish God’s plan without loving each other.
Answer these 4 questions this morning
Is God able to reach into my life and to prune the dead weight?
Am I glorifying God in the fruit I bear?
Am I bearing the fruit that God wants me to bear?
Do I love the rest of the vine?
If we are branches called to bear fruit in the vine that Is Jesus Christ, then our goal must be to bear fruit for Him.
I have preached probably 15 sermons on connection since I have been at LABC and probably at least one other sermon on this very text.
But, in the kingdom of God what we call connection in the modern vernacular what we called relationship 20 years ago, what was called community, loosely speaking 50 years ago, is simply the idea of having 3 different spheres.
Of course the three spheres are a relationship with God, A relationship with the body of Christ and a relationship with the lost.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
This is the final or our ‘I am’ sayings.
BTW if you want to se some stained glass that beautifully depicts these seven sayings, head over to Wesley Memorial Methodist church and check out the stained glass in the main sanctuary.
This is spoken in the upper room discourse as Jesus is teaching his disciples about their relationship to the Son.
In terms of the vine, Jesus is discussing the grapevine here.
It is a common image that all of his disciples would understand.
When you ride down the road, you don’t see vineyards with vines spreading all over the place you see vines that are well groomed and well maintained.
If you let the branches grow everywhere, then the energy that could be used for the fruit is used up in leaves and in stems.
It is a balance you need enough leaves to photosynthesize and enough stems to support the right amount of fruit.
3. Narrate the Contextual application
The context for us is our connection to the vine.
Are we bearing fruit and are we allowing God to deal with our lives in such a way that we are always prepared and ready to bear fruit for Him.
Now just to consider one more thing before we actually get to the body of this message.
Just exactly is the fruit that we are supposed to bear.
A grapevine bears grapes so we are expected to bear whatever the Father, the husbandman, the vinedresser is preparing us to bear.
When we look at the gifts that are listed in Romans 12 we see that we might be called to bear different kinds of fruit but it will always be the fruit the Father intended us to bear.
4. Life Application (thesis)
The key then is connection.
We must be connected to Jesus, the vine, in order to bear fruit for God.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at tat thesis this morning, I want us to consider that a vine attaches itself to its trellis with tendrils.
As we are seeking our attachment to the vine, let’s examine 4 tendrils that will help us to see how being connected to the vine enables us to bear fruit.
We must let God prune us for growth.
I want to look at something that a friend of mine back in the 80’s used to try to make me believe.
He was a huge Jimmy Swaggart fan and as you know Swaggart was a charismatic.
One of the defining doctrinal tenets of Pentecostalism and charismatics is the belief that one can lose his salvation.
He would always bring me back to this passage.
He would look at verse 2
Then he would read to verse 6 and relate that to former branches burning in hell.
But, understanding the husbandry that the hearers of Jesus understood, verse 2 is the regular pruning of the suckers from the vine. They will never bear fruit because they will be taken away before they do and the branches that are intended to bear fruit, you and me, will receive what we need to do so.
The 6th verse does not refer to any type of branch but to the person who never trusted or abided in Jesus Christ.
Now in case you have an Arminian friend who would try to convince you of this point from this verse you at least have context to defend the idea of God keeping His own.
What does it mean to let God prune us for growth?
Well, we all have things that in our lives distract us from serving Christ and doing the work of the gospel.
But if truly want to serve Christ and do the work of the gospel, then we must be willing to let God come into our lifers as an interloper who will strip from us anything that would hinder or prevent our service to Him.
The problem is that most followers of Christ are not willing to do that most of us just want to live our lives for ourselves and our own agendas take center stage to the agenda that God would have for us.
Hence pruning takes place.
The unproductive things in our lives begin to move out of the limelight and towards the back burner.
Our passions and our desires become more and more conformed to that which is Christ.
Right now, you might be seeing your interest wane in areas that surprise you.
I used to love to listen to the radio but it is harder and harder for me to find songs on the radio that I like.
Speaking of songs I like, I am nuts about Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace.
But back to our being pruned, God will take away anything in our lives that is not bringing Him honor and we should look for, expect, and desire that.
We should be disappointed by the things that have not yet been pruned and look forward to him doing His work.
Another tendril that we might see here is that bearing fruit gives glory to God.
Every summer, Paul Wilson will announce on a Wednesday night that he has left vegetables that he has grown in his garden on the back table in the FLC.
You know what happens, there is a stampede to the back when the final amen is said in the service and most of the vegetables are taken pretty quickly; don’t ask me how I know that.
But I have to believe that Paul feels pretty good that he is able to bless people with his garden.
So when you get all the crookneck squash and the tomatoes and all the cucumbers and all the butterbeans, it gives glory to the gardener.
Look at verse 8 and please note that I am going to be slightly out of order this morning.
The very first question and answer of the Westminster confession’s shorter catechism is what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
All that you are, all that you have, and all that you ever will be should be bringing Glory to God as we are living to serve Him.
There is really no other purpose for us to be connected to God if it is not for His glory.
Yet when we think of salvation, we tend to think of it in mostly human terms.
We think of it in terms from our side of the equation.
I am going to heaven; I have eternal life; my sins are forgiven.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Salvation and all of its benefits are to one end and one end alone and that is the glory of God.
Our third tendril is that we must bear the fruit that we are appointed.
It is important for us to see that the only way we can bear fruit is that we are connected to Jesus.
Notice in this text he said that apart from Him we can do nothing.
Yet in Him, we are fruitful followers of Jesus Christ.
Think then about how we are fruitful for God.
We have some kind of gift that is especially given to us to better serve Him.
I’ll even bet that many of us in the past have taken some kind of battery that has told us what our spiritual gifts would be.
Some of you just know that you are good at certain things.
I’m a big picture thinker and details just get in my way.
But I realize that without details, the big picture is never realized.
It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle with no pieces.
The picture on the box just doesn’t accomplish anything.
The church is a body in which we are all an important part.
Remember the pruned branches are pruned to bear more fruit.
Only you really know if you are bearing you appointed fruit in the amounts that God is glorified.
When you think about that, where do you stand?
Is your fruit what you know God wants it to be?
Is the nature of the fruit that you bear in the kingdom that which ultimately gives glory to God?
Here is a final tendril for your consideration.
We must love the rest of the vine.
I think we all need to realize that we are all connected.
We are connected to one another through our connection to Jesus.
Look at verse 12 to the end.
We are commanded to love each other.
Some people might read that and think how can I love them if I don’t feel love?
If we are commanded to do something then we must see it as more than a feeling.
If we look at 12 Corinthians 13, we will not see touchy feely stuff there.
It is all about how we treat each other isn’t it.
How would a vine bear any fruit if the branches turn on each other?
It is like these people whose white blood cells start to attack healthy red corpuscles.
Their bodies are working against themselves.
We cannot afford to do that in the church.
If we do, then the vine is sick and cannot bear fruit.
We cannot accomplish God’s plan without loving each other.
Answer these 4 questions this morning
Is God able to reach into my life and to prune the dead weight?
Am I glorifying God in the fruit I bear?
Am I bearing the fruit that God wants me to bear?
Do I love the rest of the vine?
If we are branches called to bear fruit in the vine that Is Jesus Christ, then our goal must be to bear fruit for Him.
Monday, February 25, 2008
I Am -- I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life -- John 14:1-15
Introduction
This past Christmas, my wife got me the coolest gift. It was one of those electronic GPS systems. In case you are wondering what it does, it gives you directions to any location based on your location and it does it via satellite. So this little box on my dash gets a signal from space and then tells me where I am going. Now, if I miss a turn or need to get around a traffic tie up, it will recalculate my route to get me to my destination. It is a cool toy.
Christianity is an exclusive faith.
Isn’t it funny that because of that fact we are called an intolerant religion?
Yet is Christianity that says just as you are and does not make a person conform before he comes to Christ.
Yet because Christianity is an exclusive faith, many people are intolerant towards us.
That of course makes them into hypocrites except in their own eyes because their self-righteous moral superiority makes it okay to down on others whom they perceive would look down on others.
You get the idea
What’s good for them is good for them but for anyone else, it is intolerance.
Describing the Biblical Text
This text describes events in the upper room where Jesus took his last supper.
We find Him washing the disciples’ feet in John 13 and praying for them (and us) in John 17.
But, between the cleaning of the feet and the calling on the Lord, there is a significant body of teaching called the upper room discourse.
We are in that upper room with Jesus in terms of our context today and He is teaching that he will be departing read dying and the disciples will have to be able to cope with Him being gone.
Narrate the Contextual application
He is telling them that knowing Him is the most important thing that they have.
Knowing Him is already pointing them down the right path, which they claim not to know.
Knowing Jesus is to know the way the truth and the life.
Knowing Jesus is to come to the Father.
Life Application (thesis)
We then must come to a very intolerant conclusion.
And, though it might be intolerant, it is by far the greatest demonstration of the Love and grace of God.
It maintains the dignity and the holiness of God while at the same time allowing for the sinner’s life to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
This is how Paul can write to the Roman church that there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Consequently, we will develop this thesis this morning.
Jesus is God’s only means of salvation.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
I want us to take a look at 3 roads this morning.
The first road is that Jesus is mindful of our eternity in heaven.
Now I want to begin by just saying how different my family was from Valerie’s family. That is part of the real miracle of marriage, that 2 families can come together and literally become one flesh. I remember when my mom was still alive and we used to go down to Charleston to see her every year for Thanksgiving. I would get home and then go to the fridge and fix a glass of tea and then go plop down on the couch in front to the TV. Valerie would look at me and ask how come you don’t visit. I would think she was crazy.
I did what I did at home. I was in my house where I lived before I moved away and got married. I worked at work and studied at school and plopped down on the couch and watched TV at home.
Mom got it and didn’t complain. She was glad I came home to plop on the couch and watch TV. She made a fresh jug of tea and by jug, I mean gallon milk jug. She would cook fried chicken at least once while I was there and we would go eat at Roberts BBQ in Goose Creek.
Jesus says that He is preparing a place for us.
Much has been made over the use of the word mansion and the fact that it is not used in newer translations.
The word for house is the word used in the statement in my father’s House but the word for mansions might literally be translated dwelling place or place to stay.
I am sure the KJ translators could not conceive in their minds anything more grand than a mansion.
So any place prepared for us by Christ himself could be nothing less.
I tend to agree with that reasoning but still desire to see the text translated accurately.
To be honest, I really don’t care if I am allotted a pup tent in the corner of the cellar, just to be in the Father’s house would be joy immeasurable.
In the father’s house are many places to dwell or stay. And they are all prepared by Jesus.
When Jesus left this earth after his resurrection from the dead, he was going to prepare a place.
Now what do we see?
This is a word that means region or area.
It is just mind boggling that Jesus would come and die for us and then even though he proclaimed it is finished, the work of redemption being done, he then went to prepare a place for us.
Don’t lose this visual in your minds.
He doesn’t just do the work of the cross and then take his life back and stop.
He prepares our dwelling with God.
And then he tells us that we know how to get there.
Think of it this way.
I am going to have a party and half of my Sunday school class has never been to my house. What do they do?
They ask for directions.
That is really what Thomas did. We don’t know where you are going; how do we know the way.
Jesus’ reply might seem surprising but it really isn’t.
Jesus said I am going to my house and you can come.
When Thomas asked His question, Jesus replied that He was the way.
I am going to my father in heaven and I am the way.
IOW believe on me and go to the Father.
How about this? I am going home and you can come see me.
Jesus also appended truth and life to His description of Himself as the way.
This tells us that he is not just the road, he understanding of the road and he is destination at the end.
He is the embodiment of truth and the author of life eternal, both of which are necessary to reach the dwelling place that He has prepared for us in heaven.
He is mindful of our eternity having prepared a place for us, having provided a way or path for us, having provided the truth for us to know how to get there, having provided life eternal through his resurrection conquering death for all eternity.
Our second road this morning is this.
Jesus uniquely identifies with God the Father.
The next conversation takes place with Philip.
He is like doubting Thomas before Thomas doubted.
Show us the Father and that would be sufficient Lord.
But the problem with that statement is the Christ is sufficient without seeing the Father.
He is of the same essence and the same nature as the Father.
Look at verse 8
[Read 8-11]
There are really 2 important things to see in these verses.
Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him.
We would see that as an equally reciprocating relationship.
What we also see here is that the work of the God the Father is being done through Jesus the Son.
In verse 11, there is a call to faith.
It is a call to believe in Jesus because He is in the Father but if that is too difficult, He offers a fallback position.
Believe because of the works.
It is all the same in that the unity of the father and son is exposed and demonstrated in the works that the Son did.
Jesus is mindful of our eternity; He uniquely identifies with the Father.
A relationship with Jesus involves both serving and receiving.
Here we have a passage where we are promised to o greater things or works than Jesus did. How can that be?
That can be as we are walking in faith and leading others to Him.
While he accomplished salvation on the cross for his people, we are the ones who actually get the blessing of seeing that realized in their lives.
We are the ones who actually get to preach the gospel; and lead people to Christ.
That is a tremendous work.
In this we also have a guide for and a means by which we can see prayer answered: Whatever you ask in my name.
Too many of us tend to use that as a formula or a tag on the end of a prayer to give is some kind of force or validity.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in praying in Jesus name but it is more that an abra cadabra at the end of our prayer.
Praying in Jesus name means we are seeking to do the works of the Father that He did and it means that we won’t pray in Jesus’ name for things we know might be outside of His will.
Ladies you can’t start praying for God to send you a new husband just because the one you have doesn’t make enough money or isn’t Mr. handyman.
God doesn’t want us to willy nilly trade our spouses in for better models.
Make note of the fact that the statement occurs in the context of working for the father and in obeying Christ because we love Him.
There is probably none of here this morning that would claim not to love Jesus but how many of us really seek to obey Him in all things.
Keeping his commandments has to be the platform for our prayers.
Lord how can we serve you better?
How can we lead more people to you?
How can we grow in your grace and knowledge?
Are you following Jesus today?
Are you giving Him your all?
If you notice when I preach, I don’t say the word Christian anymore because of the baggage that the word has picked up.
I now say follower of Christ because that is what we are.
It means we live for Him to obey Him because we love Him.
Are you flowing Christ with your all today
This past Christmas, my wife got me the coolest gift. It was one of those electronic GPS systems. In case you are wondering what it does, it gives you directions to any location based on your location and it does it via satellite. So this little box on my dash gets a signal from space and then tells me where I am going. Now, if I miss a turn or need to get around a traffic tie up, it will recalculate my route to get me to my destination. It is a cool toy.
Christianity is an exclusive faith.
Isn’t it funny that because of that fact we are called an intolerant religion?
Yet is Christianity that says just as you are and does not make a person conform before he comes to Christ.
Yet because Christianity is an exclusive faith, many people are intolerant towards us.
That of course makes them into hypocrites except in their own eyes because their self-righteous moral superiority makes it okay to down on others whom they perceive would look down on others.
You get the idea
What’s good for them is good for them but for anyone else, it is intolerance.
Describing the Biblical Text
This text describes events in the upper room where Jesus took his last supper.
We find Him washing the disciples’ feet in John 13 and praying for them (and us) in John 17.
But, between the cleaning of the feet and the calling on the Lord, there is a significant body of teaching called the upper room discourse.
We are in that upper room with Jesus in terms of our context today and He is teaching that he will be departing read dying and the disciples will have to be able to cope with Him being gone.
Narrate the Contextual application
He is telling them that knowing Him is the most important thing that they have.
Knowing Him is already pointing them down the right path, which they claim not to know.
Knowing Jesus is to know the way the truth and the life.
Knowing Jesus is to come to the Father.
Life Application (thesis)
We then must come to a very intolerant conclusion.
And, though it might be intolerant, it is by far the greatest demonstration of the Love and grace of God.
It maintains the dignity and the holiness of God while at the same time allowing for the sinner’s life to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
This is how Paul can write to the Roman church that there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Consequently, we will develop this thesis this morning.
Jesus is God’s only means of salvation.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
I want us to take a look at 3 roads this morning.
The first road is that Jesus is mindful of our eternity in heaven.
Now I want to begin by just saying how different my family was from Valerie’s family. That is part of the real miracle of marriage, that 2 families can come together and literally become one flesh. I remember when my mom was still alive and we used to go down to Charleston to see her every year for Thanksgiving. I would get home and then go to the fridge and fix a glass of tea and then go plop down on the couch in front to the TV. Valerie would look at me and ask how come you don’t visit. I would think she was crazy.
I did what I did at home. I was in my house where I lived before I moved away and got married. I worked at work and studied at school and plopped down on the couch and watched TV at home.
Mom got it and didn’t complain. She was glad I came home to plop on the couch and watch TV. She made a fresh jug of tea and by jug, I mean gallon milk jug. She would cook fried chicken at least once while I was there and we would go eat at Roberts BBQ in Goose Creek.
Jesus says that He is preparing a place for us.
Much has been made over the use of the word mansion and the fact that it is not used in newer translations.
The word for house is the word used in the statement in my father’s House but the word for mansions might literally be translated dwelling place or place to stay.
I am sure the KJ translators could not conceive in their minds anything more grand than a mansion.
So any place prepared for us by Christ himself could be nothing less.
I tend to agree with that reasoning but still desire to see the text translated accurately.
To be honest, I really don’t care if I am allotted a pup tent in the corner of the cellar, just to be in the Father’s house would be joy immeasurable.
In the father’s house are many places to dwell or stay. And they are all prepared by Jesus.
When Jesus left this earth after his resurrection from the dead, he was going to prepare a place.
Now what do we see?
This is a word that means region or area.
It is just mind boggling that Jesus would come and die for us and then even though he proclaimed it is finished, the work of redemption being done, he then went to prepare a place for us.
Don’t lose this visual in your minds.
He doesn’t just do the work of the cross and then take his life back and stop.
He prepares our dwelling with God.
And then he tells us that we know how to get there.
Think of it this way.
I am going to have a party and half of my Sunday school class has never been to my house. What do they do?
They ask for directions.
That is really what Thomas did. We don’t know where you are going; how do we know the way.
Jesus’ reply might seem surprising but it really isn’t.
Jesus said I am going to my house and you can come.
When Thomas asked His question, Jesus replied that He was the way.
I am going to my father in heaven and I am the way.
IOW believe on me and go to the Father.
How about this? I am going home and you can come see me.
Jesus also appended truth and life to His description of Himself as the way.
This tells us that he is not just the road, he understanding of the road and he is destination at the end.
He is the embodiment of truth and the author of life eternal, both of which are necessary to reach the dwelling place that He has prepared for us in heaven.
He is mindful of our eternity having prepared a place for us, having provided a way or path for us, having provided the truth for us to know how to get there, having provided life eternal through his resurrection conquering death for all eternity.
Our second road this morning is this.
Jesus uniquely identifies with God the Father.
The next conversation takes place with Philip.
He is like doubting Thomas before Thomas doubted.
Show us the Father and that would be sufficient Lord.
But the problem with that statement is the Christ is sufficient without seeing the Father.
He is of the same essence and the same nature as the Father.
Look at verse 8
[Read 8-11]
There are really 2 important things to see in these verses.
Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him.
We would see that as an equally reciprocating relationship.
What we also see here is that the work of the God the Father is being done through Jesus the Son.
In verse 11, there is a call to faith.
It is a call to believe in Jesus because He is in the Father but if that is too difficult, He offers a fallback position.
Believe because of the works.
It is all the same in that the unity of the father and son is exposed and demonstrated in the works that the Son did.
Jesus is mindful of our eternity; He uniquely identifies with the Father.
A relationship with Jesus involves both serving and receiving.
Here we have a passage where we are promised to o greater things or works than Jesus did. How can that be?
That can be as we are walking in faith and leading others to Him.
While he accomplished salvation on the cross for his people, we are the ones who actually get the blessing of seeing that realized in their lives.
We are the ones who actually get to preach the gospel; and lead people to Christ.
That is a tremendous work.
In this we also have a guide for and a means by which we can see prayer answered: Whatever you ask in my name.
Too many of us tend to use that as a formula or a tag on the end of a prayer to give is some kind of force or validity.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in praying in Jesus name but it is more that an abra cadabra at the end of our prayer.
Praying in Jesus name means we are seeking to do the works of the Father that He did and it means that we won’t pray in Jesus’ name for things we know might be outside of His will.
Ladies you can’t start praying for God to send you a new husband just because the one you have doesn’t make enough money or isn’t Mr. handyman.
God doesn’t want us to willy nilly trade our spouses in for better models.
Make note of the fact that the statement occurs in the context of working for the father and in obeying Christ because we love Him.
There is probably none of here this morning that would claim not to love Jesus but how many of us really seek to obey Him in all things.
Keeping his commandments has to be the platform for our prayers.
Lord how can we serve you better?
How can we lead more people to you?
How can we grow in your grace and knowledge?
Are you following Jesus today?
Are you giving Him your all?
If you notice when I preach, I don’t say the word Christian anymore because of the baggage that the word has picked up.
I now say follower of Christ because that is what we are.
It means we live for Him to obey Him because we love Him.
Are you flowing Christ with your all today
Thursday, February 21, 2008
I Am -- I Am the Resurrection and the Life -- John 11:1-45
Introduction
Video File
Describing the Biblical Text
It was a sad day in the town of Bethany and in the home of Martha and Mary
Their brother, Lazarus had passed away.
Now the family had sent for Jesus while he was merely sick and was not dead but as we read in the text, Jesus did not come as quickly as Mary and Martha would have hoped.
As a matter of fact, he let his disciples in on the fact that Lazarus was not sick that he would die but that he would ring glory to God.
He gave them the scoop while at the other end, Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother and you can see how they even felt like blaming God as they both confronted Jesus with the same accusation.
Lord if you had come earlier . . .
Narrate the Contextual application
Even though they knew Jesus and believed in who he was, they still had moment when their faith was weak.
That sounds like us doesn’t it?
We’ll get up in the morning and have our prayer time and go out the door feeling great.
The driver who cuts us off won’t bother us and the boss won’t bother us but we will get home from work and one of those nasty notes from the bank will be waiting in the mailbox.
You know the one – your overdraft protection has been activated and $300 has been deposited into your account.
All of a sudden our great day goes south really fast.
As committed to the Lord as we were in the morning we are now questioning him and his ability to put us in a place where he can meet our needs.
We find ourselves in the shoes of the disciples, unable to get a handle on what God is trying to do in our lives.
Or, we find ourselves like the Bethany sisters who want to blame God for their problems.
Life Application (thesis)
In the midst of the turmoil and in the sadness and disappointment of the situation, Jesus made his 5th I am statement.
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
On the occasion of the death of Lazarus, this is a very important statement.
It is a statement that would point to the thing that makes following Jesus different from any other religion in the world.
We serve and follow a savior who has conquered death and has risen from the dead.
That victory over death is a part of the life that we have in Christ.
We could state it this way.
Jesus has conquered death for us.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we ponder that truth, I have two vital signs for us to examine this morning.
The first one is this
Death is conquered by our faith.
The statement of Jesus that follows his resurrection and life declaration tells us this.
He who believes in me will live even if he dies 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
In the book of Joshua in the Old Testament, the people of God are settling the land of Canaan or Israel as it would come to be known and Joshua makes a speech that is somewhat famous in the Bible. At least it is a speech that we have all heard in some part or portion.
“Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua points to the pagan gods of 2 groups of people.
They are both the ancestors of the people who are entering the Promised Land, those across the river and those in Egypt. It is certainly understandable that 400 years of slavery in Egypt could have a detrimental effect on one’s faith. So the Hebrew faith struggled and suffered during the Egyptian bondage and some of the Israelites turned to the pagan gods of Egypt.
But who are those ancestors from across the river?
They would be Abraham and his ancestors.
It’s hard for us to imagine it but before God began to deal with Abraham in Genesis 12, He was a pagan as well serving the pagan idols of Mesopotamia.
But what happened to Abraham or Abram as he was known at the time?
What changed His life?
Faith changed his life.
In Genesis 15, God is reiterating covenant promises to Abram about his son who will come from his own body.
Then we find a sentence that is unobtrusive but it speaks volumes.
Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Abram’s faith was the keystone to his righteousness.
He did not have to jump through hoops, build altars, pray 5 times a day to a piece of wood, or sacrifice the first goat.
He just had to believe.
Jesus tells us that faith, believing in Him, is necessary for eternal life, life that does not end, life that is never taken away.
But, we have to believe.
We have to place our faith in Jesus Christ.
That does not mean that we have to walk that aisle and make that decision.
It means that we have to trust that Jesus sacrificial death on the cross and his subsequent rising from the death, aka the resurrection, are the sufficient work of God to bring us eternal life.
The most well known verse in the Bible is a faith verse.
For God so love the world that He gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
People come to Christ for different reasons but it is always the work of the spirit to draw them.
I came to Christ when I was 20 and I really felt an acute fear of death.
The message of life and especially this message from John 11:25 was really a comforting message to me.
But it is a message that we must consider.
The wages of sin is death.
Sin is any disobedience against God and yet it ultimately manifests in unbelief.
Whereas belief equals life, unbelief or sin equals death.
What stands in the balance today is whether or now we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
We can serve pagan things like paychecks and careers or we can serve the son of the God who created the universe and who came that we might have abundant life.
There is a second vital sign that I want us to see.
Death is conquered by Jesus' resurrection
I want to call out the names of several personalities and I want you to tell me who the actor is famous for playing.
Buddy Ebsen – Jed Clampett – Barnaby Jones
Bob Denver – Gilligan
Telly Savalis – Kojak
Shannon Daugherty – 90210
Ryan Secrest – American Idol
My personal Favorite – Tom Bergeron – America’s Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars
We associate these people exclusively with the parts that they play.
For us the celebrity is the show.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection.”
We know from this chapter that Lazarus was raised from the dead and that Jesus raised a little girl from the dead and that there is an example of a resurrection in the OT as well.
Yet, Jesus resurrection is different from all these and Jesus described this difference in John 10 when he made the statement that He had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again.
Not Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter nor the widow’s son in the OT could do that.
But Jesus had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again.
Why would he want to do that?
It gave credibility to His sacrificial death.
But more than that, it demonstrates that God has the power over death.
Jesus resurrection for us is a view into the future.
It is a future with God surrounded by Him and His life in Christ that he wrought for us and for all those who believe in Christ.
This is the confidence that we have in these words of Jesus.
He conquered death and then offered us life in him.
He made an offer and then gave us an opportunity to answer the all important question.
He who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?
Do you believe this?
Video File
Describing the Biblical Text
It was a sad day in the town of Bethany and in the home of Martha and Mary
Their brother, Lazarus had passed away.
Now the family had sent for Jesus while he was merely sick and was not dead but as we read in the text, Jesus did not come as quickly as Mary and Martha would have hoped.
As a matter of fact, he let his disciples in on the fact that Lazarus was not sick that he would die but that he would ring glory to God.
He gave them the scoop while at the other end, Mary and Martha were grieving the loss of their brother and you can see how they even felt like blaming God as they both confronted Jesus with the same accusation.
Lord if you had come earlier . . .
Narrate the Contextual application
Even though they knew Jesus and believed in who he was, they still had moment when their faith was weak.
That sounds like us doesn’t it?
We’ll get up in the morning and have our prayer time and go out the door feeling great.
The driver who cuts us off won’t bother us and the boss won’t bother us but we will get home from work and one of those nasty notes from the bank will be waiting in the mailbox.
You know the one – your overdraft protection has been activated and $300 has been deposited into your account.
All of a sudden our great day goes south really fast.
As committed to the Lord as we were in the morning we are now questioning him and his ability to put us in a place where he can meet our needs.
We find ourselves in the shoes of the disciples, unable to get a handle on what God is trying to do in our lives.
Or, we find ourselves like the Bethany sisters who want to blame God for their problems.
Life Application (thesis)
In the midst of the turmoil and in the sadness and disappointment of the situation, Jesus made his 5th I am statement.
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
On the occasion of the death of Lazarus, this is a very important statement.
It is a statement that would point to the thing that makes following Jesus different from any other religion in the world.
We serve and follow a savior who has conquered death and has risen from the dead.
That victory over death is a part of the life that we have in Christ.
We could state it this way.
Jesus has conquered death for us.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we ponder that truth, I have two vital signs for us to examine this morning.
The first one is this
Death is conquered by our faith.
The statement of Jesus that follows his resurrection and life declaration tells us this.
He who believes in me will live even if he dies 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.
In the book of Joshua in the Old Testament, the people of God are settling the land of Canaan or Israel as it would come to be known and Joshua makes a speech that is somewhat famous in the Bible. At least it is a speech that we have all heard in some part or portion.
“Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua points to the pagan gods of 2 groups of people.
They are both the ancestors of the people who are entering the Promised Land, those across the river and those in Egypt. It is certainly understandable that 400 years of slavery in Egypt could have a detrimental effect on one’s faith. So the Hebrew faith struggled and suffered during the Egyptian bondage and some of the Israelites turned to the pagan gods of Egypt.
But who are those ancestors from across the river?
They would be Abraham and his ancestors.
It’s hard for us to imagine it but before God began to deal with Abraham in Genesis 12, He was a pagan as well serving the pagan idols of Mesopotamia.
But what happened to Abraham or Abram as he was known at the time?
What changed His life?
Faith changed his life.
In Genesis 15, God is reiterating covenant promises to Abram about his son who will come from his own body.
Then we find a sentence that is unobtrusive but it speaks volumes.
Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Abram’s faith was the keystone to his righteousness.
He did not have to jump through hoops, build altars, pray 5 times a day to a piece of wood, or sacrifice the first goat.
He just had to believe.
Jesus tells us that faith, believing in Him, is necessary for eternal life, life that does not end, life that is never taken away.
But, we have to believe.
We have to place our faith in Jesus Christ.
That does not mean that we have to walk that aisle and make that decision.
It means that we have to trust that Jesus sacrificial death on the cross and his subsequent rising from the death, aka the resurrection, are the sufficient work of God to bring us eternal life.
The most well known verse in the Bible is a faith verse.
For God so love the world that He gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
People come to Christ for different reasons but it is always the work of the spirit to draw them.
I came to Christ when I was 20 and I really felt an acute fear of death.
The message of life and especially this message from John 11:25 was really a comforting message to me.
But it is a message that we must consider.
The wages of sin is death.
Sin is any disobedience against God and yet it ultimately manifests in unbelief.
Whereas belief equals life, unbelief or sin equals death.
What stands in the balance today is whether or now we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
We can serve pagan things like paychecks and careers or we can serve the son of the God who created the universe and who came that we might have abundant life.
There is a second vital sign that I want us to see.
Death is conquered by Jesus' resurrection
I want to call out the names of several personalities and I want you to tell me who the actor is famous for playing.
Buddy Ebsen – Jed Clampett – Barnaby Jones
Bob Denver – Gilligan
Telly Savalis – Kojak
Shannon Daugherty – 90210
Ryan Secrest – American Idol
My personal Favorite – Tom Bergeron – America’s Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars
We associate these people exclusively with the parts that they play.
For us the celebrity is the show.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection.”
We know from this chapter that Lazarus was raised from the dead and that Jesus raised a little girl from the dead and that there is an example of a resurrection in the OT as well.
Yet, Jesus resurrection is different from all these and Jesus described this difference in John 10 when he made the statement that He had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again.
Not Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter nor the widow’s son in the OT could do that.
But Jesus had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again.
Why would he want to do that?
It gave credibility to His sacrificial death.
But more than that, it demonstrates that God has the power over death.
Jesus resurrection for us is a view into the future.
It is a future with God surrounded by Him and His life in Christ that he wrought for us and for all those who believe in Christ.
This is the confidence that we have in these words of Jesus.
He conquered death and then offered us life in him.
He made an offer and then gave us an opportunity to answer the all important question.
He who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?
Do you believe this?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
I Am -- I Am the Good Shepherd -- John 10:11-30
1. Introduction
A shepherd has a big job. There are a number of things that go into keeping and maintaining a healthy flock. The shepherd has the responsibility for the youngest lamb to the oldest ram. He looks after the weakest few and pregnant ewe. He has to lead them to food and make sure they find water. He has to protect them against predatory threats like wolves and jackals.
When Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, he is alluding to all these ideas.
He is also moving into an area of describing himself as we see God described in the Old Testament.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
The 23rd Psalm tells us that the Lord is my Shepherd.
Notice how this passage opens and then how this passage closes.
I am the good shepherd – I am the Father are one.
Jesus is making the declarative that He is the Son of God and by that virtue, he is God.
3. Narrate the Contextual application
When you think about it, Jesus as he taught about himself really had a central message and that was that he was coming to do the will of God who sent him.
That is immensely important when we think about what He was doing.
He was coming to seek and to save the lost.
He was coming to die a sacrificial death on the cross.
He was coming to lead the people of God as their perfect shepherd.
Jesus is describing Himself as the good shepherd.
4. Life Application (thesis)
The Bible says that we are the sheep of His pasture.
The Bible all we like sheep have gone astray.
We need a shepherd.
Jesus is the keeper of His sheep.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In thinking about that main idea this morning, we are going to look at 4 different staves that the shepherd will employ in leading the sheep.
The first staff is this:
The shepherd will give his life for the sheep.
Both of my kids now have gotten older and they don’t yell out daddy whenever they have a little problem.
You know what I do? Whenever we are out somewhere like a mall or the zoo or something and I hear a little kid yell daddy, I instinctively look to see what Alyson or Kirstyn need. I guess it is just a habit that I developed when they were young and it stuck.
But if I answered one of those kids at the zoo or at the park with what sweetie, they would probably look at me like I was nuts.
That’s because when a child calls out to mommy or daddy, they are calling out to someone in particular.
Go back up to the very first few verse of this chapter in Verse 1 and following.
What we see in these verses is the basis of the sheep knowing the shepherd which of course is the relationship that He has with them.
The shepherd knows the sheep and his purpose is to keep them so he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the sheep.
Look at verse 14
What is truly incredible about this is the fact that Jesus would be willing to die for sheep that had not been particularly loyal to following Him.
But, it all comes back to relationship.
It started in eternity past as Romans 8 reminds us.
All things work together for good to those who love God who are the called according to His purpose.
For those whom he foreknew, them he predestined to be conformed to the image of His son.
The relationship is in eternity past and Jesus coming to do the will of the Father is to bring the relationship to the point where it is mutual.
Now, we need to turn to Romans 5 because there are some very important ideas there.
While you are turning there, I want to remind you what Isaiah 53:7 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each one to His own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Romans 5 beginning with verse 6
6For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
The shepherd has laid down his life for us, His sheep.
All have sinned
Wages of Sin
But as many as received Him
Shepherd died to save the sheep
Follow the shepherd today.
The next staff that we see in this passage is the shepherd will give wholeness to the flock.
Verse 16
The idea here is that Jesus will complete his covenant people or the church.
Remember that Jesus is talking to Pharisees, Jewish leaders who are challenging and threatening him.
He is stretching their conventional wisdom.
And now what he is saying and our 20/20 hindsight makes it clear is that there will be another flock who come into the kingdom.
That flock of course is Gentile followers of Christ.
Paul declared that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus for it was the power of God to all who believe to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Jesus was saying that yes the Jews are the covenant people as called through Abraham's covenant.
But that covenant is being expanded to all who will call on Jesus Christ by faith.
It is really neat when Joseph has his dream in Matthew 1 because of what the angel says about Jesus.
“He will save His people from their sin.”
In that statement the Jews and the gentiles are brought together as the people of God.
His people are now, as Revelation 4 and 5 tell us, from every tribe, people, nation, and tongue.
The shepherd will give guidance to the sheep.
This is our third staff.
As Jesus was attending a feast, the Jews wanted to challenge Him and to push Him on the point of being the messiah.
He came back to them with some very hard even harsh words.
You do not believe because you are not my sheep.
Based on what we have already seen in this passage, Jesus was saying that they were following a different shepherd.
Jesus also said in other place that if someone was not with Him, they were against him.
The sheep follow their shepherd.
That means that we go where He leads us and we do what he tells us.
We take the nourishment that he gives.
We rest in His protection.
The shepherd guides the sheep into the good pasture that they can take the necessary nourishment to provide wool and other commodities to the owners.
The Shepherd guides so that God can use us for His purpose.
There is the old hymn that says wherever he leads I’ll go.
That means that we will follow our shepherd anywhere to do what He has desired us to do.
There is a fourth staff and we have already alluded to it this morning
The shepherd will give security to the sheep.
We alluded to this last Wednesday night in our Revelation study.
It is the hand of God and the security that comes from being held in that hand.
There was old black preacher who described it like this.
That old devil might want to get but he can’t.
He might try and if he try he gots to peel back the fingers of God and Then he got to peel back the fingers of Jesus and if he get those fingers peeled back, then he still can’t get me cause nothing can get me since I covered with the blood of Jesus.
That is security.
That is peace in knowing that our shepherd will keep us and He will protect us.
Jesus is the keeper of the sheep.
The shepherd gives his life, gives wholeness, gives guidance, and gives security.
What is the responsibility of the sheep?
We must be about following the shepherd.
We are only his sheep if we believe that he died and rose again for us and we are following Him.
If we are following Him, we have life because He gave His life.
We have wholeness with the purpose of God because he came to do God’s will
We have one who will lead us and guide us through all the trials and storms of life and we will be spiritually nourished.
We have one who will keep us for His own glory and purpose.
But we have to follow.
We have to obey.
We need to surrender our lives to the shepherd and to be totally His.
A shepherd has a big job. There are a number of things that go into keeping and maintaining a healthy flock. The shepherd has the responsibility for the youngest lamb to the oldest ram. He looks after the weakest few and pregnant ewe. He has to lead them to food and make sure they find water. He has to protect them against predatory threats like wolves and jackals.
When Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, he is alluding to all these ideas.
He is also moving into an area of describing himself as we see God described in the Old Testament.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
The 23rd Psalm tells us that the Lord is my Shepherd.
Notice how this passage opens and then how this passage closes.
I am the good shepherd – I am the Father are one.
Jesus is making the declarative that He is the Son of God and by that virtue, he is God.
3. Narrate the Contextual application
When you think about it, Jesus as he taught about himself really had a central message and that was that he was coming to do the will of God who sent him.
That is immensely important when we think about what He was doing.
He was coming to seek and to save the lost.
He was coming to die a sacrificial death on the cross.
He was coming to lead the people of God as their perfect shepherd.
Jesus is describing Himself as the good shepherd.
4. Life Application (thesis)
The Bible says that we are the sheep of His pasture.
The Bible all we like sheep have gone astray.
We need a shepherd.
Jesus is the keeper of His sheep.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In thinking about that main idea this morning, we are going to look at 4 different staves that the shepherd will employ in leading the sheep.
The first staff is this:
The shepherd will give his life for the sheep.
Both of my kids now have gotten older and they don’t yell out daddy whenever they have a little problem.
You know what I do? Whenever we are out somewhere like a mall or the zoo or something and I hear a little kid yell daddy, I instinctively look to see what Alyson or Kirstyn need. I guess it is just a habit that I developed when they were young and it stuck.
But if I answered one of those kids at the zoo or at the park with what sweetie, they would probably look at me like I was nuts.
That’s because when a child calls out to mommy or daddy, they are calling out to someone in particular.
Go back up to the very first few verse of this chapter in Verse 1 and following.
What we see in these verses is the basis of the sheep knowing the shepherd which of course is the relationship that He has with them.
The shepherd knows the sheep and his purpose is to keep them so he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the sheep.
Look at verse 14
What is truly incredible about this is the fact that Jesus would be willing to die for sheep that had not been particularly loyal to following Him.
But, it all comes back to relationship.
It started in eternity past as Romans 8 reminds us.
All things work together for good to those who love God who are the called according to His purpose.
For those whom he foreknew, them he predestined to be conformed to the image of His son.
The relationship is in eternity past and Jesus coming to do the will of the Father is to bring the relationship to the point where it is mutual.
Now, we need to turn to Romans 5 because there are some very important ideas there.
While you are turning there, I want to remind you what Isaiah 53:7 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each one to His own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Romans 5 beginning with verse 6
6For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
The shepherd has laid down his life for us, His sheep.
All have sinned
Wages of Sin
But as many as received Him
Shepherd died to save the sheep
Follow the shepherd today.
The next staff that we see in this passage is the shepherd will give wholeness to the flock.
Verse 16
The idea here is that Jesus will complete his covenant people or the church.
Remember that Jesus is talking to Pharisees, Jewish leaders who are challenging and threatening him.
He is stretching their conventional wisdom.
And now what he is saying and our 20/20 hindsight makes it clear is that there will be another flock who come into the kingdom.
That flock of course is Gentile followers of Christ.
Paul declared that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus for it was the power of God to all who believe to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Jesus was saying that yes the Jews are the covenant people as called through Abraham's covenant.
But that covenant is being expanded to all who will call on Jesus Christ by faith.
It is really neat when Joseph has his dream in Matthew 1 because of what the angel says about Jesus.
“He will save His people from their sin.”
In that statement the Jews and the gentiles are brought together as the people of God.
His people are now, as Revelation 4 and 5 tell us, from every tribe, people, nation, and tongue.
The shepherd will give guidance to the sheep.
This is our third staff.
As Jesus was attending a feast, the Jews wanted to challenge Him and to push Him on the point of being the messiah.
He came back to them with some very hard even harsh words.
You do not believe because you are not my sheep.
Based on what we have already seen in this passage, Jesus was saying that they were following a different shepherd.
Jesus also said in other place that if someone was not with Him, they were against him.
The sheep follow their shepherd.
That means that we go where He leads us and we do what he tells us.
We take the nourishment that he gives.
We rest in His protection.
The shepherd guides the sheep into the good pasture that they can take the necessary nourishment to provide wool and other commodities to the owners.
The Shepherd guides so that God can use us for His purpose.
There is the old hymn that says wherever he leads I’ll go.
That means that we will follow our shepherd anywhere to do what He has desired us to do.
There is a fourth staff and we have already alluded to it this morning
The shepherd will give security to the sheep.
We alluded to this last Wednesday night in our Revelation study.
It is the hand of God and the security that comes from being held in that hand.
There was old black preacher who described it like this.
That old devil might want to get but he can’t.
He might try and if he try he gots to peel back the fingers of God and Then he got to peel back the fingers of Jesus and if he get those fingers peeled back, then he still can’t get me cause nothing can get me since I covered with the blood of Jesus.
That is security.
That is peace in knowing that our shepherd will keep us and He will protect us.
Jesus is the keeper of the sheep.
The shepherd gives his life, gives wholeness, gives guidance, and gives security.
What is the responsibility of the sheep?
We must be about following the shepherd.
We are only his sheep if we believe that he died and rose again for us and we are following Him.
If we are following Him, we have life because He gave His life.
We have wholeness with the purpose of God because he came to do God’s will
We have one who will lead us and guide us through all the trials and storms of life and we will be spiritually nourished.
We have one who will keep us for His own glory and purpose.
But we have to follow.
We have to obey.
We need to surrender our lives to the shepherd and to be totally His.
I am -- I Am the Door of the Sheep -- John 10:1-10
1. Introduction
I used to be the member of a secret society as a Teenager called the Order of Demolay. One thing you did not want to do was to be late for a chapter meeting. It was a huge deal if you were late. You would show up and the member watching the outside of the door called the sentinel would quiz you. You go to school with this guy. You come to meetings twice a month with this guy and he still quizzes you about the step, sign, and token of the initiation and then the password and secret handshake. Then he knocks on the door with the secret knock and that knock is answered with a knock from the inside.
Let’s change scenes. We are now inside the chapter room and the knock comes to the door. The officer sitting by the door, the junior deacon, stands and says to the leader, the master councilor, that there is an alarm at the door. The leader tells him to “ascertain” the purpose for the alarm. The junior Deacon would ten knock on the door and open it and ask the sentinel and then report to the MC, “Brother Waller seeks admission to the chapter.” The MC would than ask, “Can anyone vouch for Brother Waller?” Again, these are all guys you go to school with and you have these chapter meetings every couple of weeks. Someone would raise their hand and vouch for you and then you are allowed in the door but you have to walk to center of the room and give a secret sign to the Master Counselor.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
As we look at this text, we see Jesus continuing to teach regarding Himself and his identity.
He is beginning here to show his legitimacy as the shepherd and in the process of doing that he makes a very surprising and I think unusual claim about himself.
He sort of moves from the idea of being the shepherd, an ideas to which we will return, to the idea of being the door or the gate for the sheep.
3. Narrate the Contextual application
He was telling the Pharisees that he was more than a man.
He was the gate through which God’s sheep must pass.
They would not lose the imagery of the idea that there is a gate and it is only to let the shepherd and sheep in and out.
Anything else that tried to use that gate would be rejected and turned away or if it was a predator, it would be killed.
I remember spending the night with my uncle and in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a bang and then another bang. I grabbed a pair of pants and went outside and it turns out that there was a wild dog after Uncle Palmer’s chickens. But that dog would never steal another chicken again. But that dog jumped the fence and did not use the gate because he was not entering for legitimate purposes. However, the chickens would use the gate. They would come in to roost and lay and they would go out to scratch and feed. They used the gate and the chickens were cared for abundantly.
4. Life Application (thesis)
No one is any more expert on life be it eternal or abundant than Jesus.
As Jesus describes himself as the door, He makes a very important statement at the end.
I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
This would lead us to this conclusion.
Knowing Jesus gives His followers abundant life.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
I want to tell you about a friend of mine named Renée. She was a really good pianist and could lead music pretty well. But, Renée could not give directions worth a flip. Some where in every set of directions she would give would be the statement, “If you get to the _____, you have gone too far.” Instead of telling you where to turn, she would tell where you missed the turn, when you went beyond the street or road or even the destination.
When we see this word abundant in the NT, we get that same sense.
It is from a word that literally means beyond.
It’s like that Christian song that plays on the radio some times.
“Life is good eternal; life is better.”
But, as we look having abundant life in Jesus, that is having a life that goes above and beyond, we are going to se why that happens.
Let’s look at 2 hinges of abundant life this morning.
Abundant life hinges on the connection between the sheep and the shepherd.
What is funny is that we are not really talking about the shepherd and we won’t talk about the shepherd until next week.
But the gate as we see it in this passage is that which allows the shepherd to enter the sheepfold.
As we get the idea from verse 1, the gate really validates the one who passes through it.
The people who pass through the gate are the ones who have the right to come through it.
The gate and by association, the gatekeeper, only opens the gate to those who are supposed to come in.
Those who do not enter by the gate are thieves and robbers.
This points us to something that is really important to see.
The Pharisees, who were placing an undue burden on the people by forcing to keep a ridiculously rigid legal code to even have access to God, are the object of Jesus analogy in this comparative metaphor.
He is in essence calling them thieves and robbers because they are stealing the joy of a relationship with God from the people.
They are making it too burdensome and therefore too miserable to be a good Jewish adherent.
Jesus is saying that they are not coming into the sheepfold through the gate.
They are climbing the fence much like that wild dog did that I told you about earlier.
The point then is this.
If they do have a legitimate relationship with the people of God, can they lead them?
The obvious answer to that is no.
The law which they were making so cumbersome was killing the people rather than pointing them to life.
These Pharisees should have seen the gate open and they should have heard the shepherd’s voice as he entered.
Yet, they disputed the shepherd.
They argued with Him and they tried to kill Him.
Jesus is saying I have come in through the gate.
Have you ever been expecting company and you tell them to let yourself in?
Or maybe you are visiting your relative or parents or something and just go to the door and you don’t knock, you just go inside the house.
When he says that the shepherd comes in by the gate, he is saying that he is letting himself in.
God is the only one who has the authority to be both be the shepherd and the one who let’s the shepherd inside.
This speaks to His involvement in regards to our salvation which is complete.
Gods prepares us for the coming of the shepherd becoming the door to give access to the shepherd.
The shepherd then is able to reach the sheep that do what?
The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
The shepherd is connected to the sheep.
There is a relationship there that gives the shepherd access to the sheep through the gate or door which is also the shepherd.
And we hear His voice and we follow Him.
The seconds hinge that we can see here is that abundant life hinges on the convection between the sheep and the shepherd.Convection is just something that is swirling.
A convection oven cooks with moving air.
A tornado comes out of a convecting cloud.
I want to show you that the metaphor changes in verse 9.
No longer do we see the shepherd as the one passing through the door.
Now we see the sheep.
The come in and they are saved or rescued.
Colossians 1:9-12 has a prayer of the apostle Paul for the church and at the very end of that prayer, we see something very important: Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
Jesus is the gate to bring the sheep qualified or prepared by the Father to come in to the sheepfold and they are saved.
Is the gate standing open now?
Are you feeling like you want to enter the sheepfold that Jesus might lead you for the rest of your life?
All have sinned
Wages death
Gift of God
But as many as received Him
The greatest thing about this passage is where it leads
If anyone enters though Christ, he is saved.
He comes and goes and finds pasture.
That relationship to the shepherd leads us to having our needs met in him.
Finding pasture is the equivalent to finding all we need and all that fulfills us.
And, we find that when we enter into a relationship with God through Christ.
That is what I mean by convecting with the shepherd.
We come and we go as His sheep and we3 trust him to meet our needs.
This is abundant life.
It is stating as Paul did that we have learned to be content in Christ.
We are trusting Him with what we have and also trusting him in what we do not have.
I want to ask you this morning.
Are we convecting with Christ?
Is he leading our coming in and our going out?
If we don’t have abundant life, life that goes beyond, it is because we have not yet yielded our lives to Christ but we are following a thief that only wants to kill steal and destroy.
He is come to give us life, and to give it abundantly.
I used to be the member of a secret society as a Teenager called the Order of Demolay. One thing you did not want to do was to be late for a chapter meeting. It was a huge deal if you were late. You would show up and the member watching the outside of the door called the sentinel would quiz you. You go to school with this guy. You come to meetings twice a month with this guy and he still quizzes you about the step, sign, and token of the initiation and then the password and secret handshake. Then he knocks on the door with the secret knock and that knock is answered with a knock from the inside.
Let’s change scenes. We are now inside the chapter room and the knock comes to the door. The officer sitting by the door, the junior deacon, stands and says to the leader, the master councilor, that there is an alarm at the door. The leader tells him to “ascertain” the purpose for the alarm. The junior Deacon would ten knock on the door and open it and ask the sentinel and then report to the MC, “Brother Waller seeks admission to the chapter.” The MC would than ask, “Can anyone vouch for Brother Waller?” Again, these are all guys you go to school with and you have these chapter meetings every couple of weeks. Someone would raise their hand and vouch for you and then you are allowed in the door but you have to walk to center of the room and give a secret sign to the Master Counselor.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
As we look at this text, we see Jesus continuing to teach regarding Himself and his identity.
He is beginning here to show his legitimacy as the shepherd and in the process of doing that he makes a very surprising and I think unusual claim about himself.
He sort of moves from the idea of being the shepherd, an ideas to which we will return, to the idea of being the door or the gate for the sheep.
3. Narrate the Contextual application
He was telling the Pharisees that he was more than a man.
He was the gate through which God’s sheep must pass.
They would not lose the imagery of the idea that there is a gate and it is only to let the shepherd and sheep in and out.
Anything else that tried to use that gate would be rejected and turned away or if it was a predator, it would be killed.
I remember spending the night with my uncle and in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a bang and then another bang. I grabbed a pair of pants and went outside and it turns out that there was a wild dog after Uncle Palmer’s chickens. But that dog would never steal another chicken again. But that dog jumped the fence and did not use the gate because he was not entering for legitimate purposes. However, the chickens would use the gate. They would come in to roost and lay and they would go out to scratch and feed. They used the gate and the chickens were cared for abundantly.
4. Life Application (thesis)
No one is any more expert on life be it eternal or abundant than Jesus.
As Jesus describes himself as the door, He makes a very important statement at the end.
I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
This would lead us to this conclusion.
Knowing Jesus gives His followers abundant life.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
I want to tell you about a friend of mine named Renée. She was a really good pianist and could lead music pretty well. But, Renée could not give directions worth a flip. Some where in every set of directions she would give would be the statement, “If you get to the _____, you have gone too far.” Instead of telling you where to turn, she would tell where you missed the turn, when you went beyond the street or road or even the destination.
When we see this word abundant in the NT, we get that same sense.
It is from a word that literally means beyond.
It’s like that Christian song that plays on the radio some times.
“Life is good eternal; life is better.”
But, as we look having abundant life in Jesus, that is having a life that goes above and beyond, we are going to se why that happens.
Let’s look at 2 hinges of abundant life this morning.
Abundant life hinges on the connection between the sheep and the shepherd.
What is funny is that we are not really talking about the shepherd and we won’t talk about the shepherd until next week.
But the gate as we see it in this passage is that which allows the shepherd to enter the sheepfold.
As we get the idea from verse 1, the gate really validates the one who passes through it.
The people who pass through the gate are the ones who have the right to come through it.
The gate and by association, the gatekeeper, only opens the gate to those who are supposed to come in.
Those who do not enter by the gate are thieves and robbers.
This points us to something that is really important to see.
The Pharisees, who were placing an undue burden on the people by forcing to keep a ridiculously rigid legal code to even have access to God, are the object of Jesus analogy in this comparative metaphor.
He is in essence calling them thieves and robbers because they are stealing the joy of a relationship with God from the people.
They are making it too burdensome and therefore too miserable to be a good Jewish adherent.
Jesus is saying that they are not coming into the sheepfold through the gate.
They are climbing the fence much like that wild dog did that I told you about earlier.
The point then is this.
If they do have a legitimate relationship with the people of God, can they lead them?
The obvious answer to that is no.
The law which they were making so cumbersome was killing the people rather than pointing them to life.
These Pharisees should have seen the gate open and they should have heard the shepherd’s voice as he entered.
Yet, they disputed the shepherd.
They argued with Him and they tried to kill Him.
Jesus is saying I have come in through the gate.
Have you ever been expecting company and you tell them to let yourself in?
Or maybe you are visiting your relative or parents or something and just go to the door and you don’t knock, you just go inside the house.
When he says that the shepherd comes in by the gate, he is saying that he is letting himself in.
God is the only one who has the authority to be both be the shepherd and the one who let’s the shepherd inside.
This speaks to His involvement in regards to our salvation which is complete.
Gods prepares us for the coming of the shepherd becoming the door to give access to the shepherd.
The shepherd then is able to reach the sheep that do what?
The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
The shepherd is connected to the sheep.
There is a relationship there that gives the shepherd access to the sheep through the gate or door which is also the shepherd.
And we hear His voice and we follow Him.
The seconds hinge that we can see here is that abundant life hinges on the convection between the sheep and the shepherd.Convection is just something that is swirling.
A convection oven cooks with moving air.
A tornado comes out of a convecting cloud.
I want to show you that the metaphor changes in verse 9.
No longer do we see the shepherd as the one passing through the door.
Now we see the sheep.
The come in and they are saved or rescued.
Colossians 1:9-12 has a prayer of the apostle Paul for the church and at the very end of that prayer, we see something very important: Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
Jesus is the gate to bring the sheep qualified or prepared by the Father to come in to the sheepfold and they are saved.
Is the gate standing open now?
Are you feeling like you want to enter the sheepfold that Jesus might lead you for the rest of your life?
All have sinned
Wages death
Gift of God
But as many as received Him
The greatest thing about this passage is where it leads
If anyone enters though Christ, he is saved.
He comes and goes and finds pasture.
That relationship to the shepherd leads us to having our needs met in him.
Finding pasture is the equivalent to finding all we need and all that fulfills us.
And, we find that when we enter into a relationship with God through Christ.
That is what I mean by convecting with the shepherd.
We come and we go as His sheep and we3 trust him to meet our needs.
This is abundant life.
It is stating as Paul did that we have learned to be content in Christ.
We are trusting Him with what we have and also trusting him in what we do not have.
I want to ask you this morning.
Are we convecting with Christ?
Is he leading our coming in and our going out?
If we don’t have abundant life, life that goes beyond, it is because we have not yet yielded our lives to Christ but we are following a thief that only wants to kill steal and destroy.
He is come to give us life, and to give it abundantly.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I Am -- I Am the Light of the World -- John 8:12-20
Introduction
I grew up on the coast of SC and if you have ever been there during the summer you may have seen the phenomenon known as the palmetto bug. The palmetto bug is really a roach. It is big and so black and shiny that it looks almost blue. What really makes the palmetto bug different from other vermin is that they are not afraid of the light. They will come out at almost any time and scare unsuspecting little sisters and moms to death. Heh heh heh.
Describing the Biblical Text
In this text Jesus has just finished forgiving the woman caught in adultery.
He is now discussing who he is and what His nature is.
I want you to look back at chapter 7 for just a second. We will begin our reading at verse 40.
The Pharisees had already concluded that Jesus was a problem.
They wanted Him out of the way.
They were willing to do anything to get him out of the way except make themselves look bad.
This is why we see them asking others why they did not seize Jesus.
The Pharisees didn’t want to arrest Jesus because of his popularity so they were hoping someone else would do it.
But they didn’t.
And, their answer as to why they didn’t was so compelling.
Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.
Narrate the Contextual application
Then the Pharisees were getting kind of bent out of shape over the guards not arresting Jesus and they began to question his teaching based on his following.
That would be like me questioning Charles Stanley’s teaching because the ACLU didn’t like it.
Yet there was something that we might not see at first glance.
The guards did not arrest Jesus because he was giving them something that they had not received in a long time and that was light.
Jesus was teaching them like they had never been taught before.
They were hearing things they never heard before.
Life Application (thesis)
Jesus was revealing the teaching of heaven and they were experiencing God like they had never experienced Him before.
That’s because they had light.
You know what I mean.
Have you ever lost power at night?
You forget where the furniture is until a stubbed toe reminds you.
Then, when the lights come back on you are relieved because you don’t have to stumble around the house with lamps and candles.
Think about living life without light.
Not luminescent light but the light from Heaven.
Think about life with no revelation from God to lead us to truth or to help us to see right from Wrong.
That is really what a life without Jesus is.
It is a life without light.
When we are following Jesus we have the light of life.
This will then bring the lights up for us as we will see two illuminations from this text.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
Following Jesus means that our lives are illumined by Him.
The Palmetto bug is different from most other roaches in that they are not repelled by the light.
I have been in people’s homes who did not really care about their housekeeping and they would take you 9into a room and turn on the light and a gazillion roaches and bugs would run for cover.
Palmetto bugs will come out to the light.
If you get a well lit Palmetto tree it will be covered by the bluish black bugs crawling chirping and flying, yes flying all around it.
Look at vv 12
What really characterizes the life of the follower of Christ is how that person actually follows Christ.
Christ is a light that draws his followers after Him.
I received a bumper sticker on my facebook page yesterday that said, “It is not a religion, it is a relationship.”
The follower of Jesus Christ wants to deepen and to develop that relationship.
IOW he wants to walk in the light in order to be with Jesus and where Jesus is.
John 3:19-21 says this, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
If we desire to be Christlike, something has to be there to do a couple of things.
Something has to reveal the sin that can easily beset and ruin our relationship to the Lord and even with other believers.
When light shines into darkness, particularly the darkened heart, it reveals the blackness of sin and the destruction of that behavior.
It reveals the reality of our condemnation before God.
But the light also reveals the will of God.
There is a family that I know that is facing a very serious decision regarding some spiritual issues.
This is a family that desires to be in the center of God’s will so what are they doing?
They are praying; they are seeking the counsel of their pastor and other godly people; they are looking for wisdom in the Bible.
They are shining the light of Christ on their situation.
What is our reaction to the light?
Remember the words of verse 12?
I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.
As we live our lives and the light of truth shines on us revealing both our sin and the Fathers will, how do we react?
Are we like those palmetto bus that fly to the light and chirp and crawl all over that tree or are we like the vermin roaches that run for cover anywhere we can hide from the light?
That really defines us as followers of Jesus Christ.
Do we want to live in the light or away from it?
Listen to what the apostle John wrote later in the book of 1 john
5This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Our second illumination this morning is this
Following Jesus means that our Lord is illumined by Him.
Look at verses 18-20
Jesus is the light o the world bearing witness to himself but doing that in order that should do something as well.
Jesus left the church on the earth to be his body.
He left us here as His mouthpieces for righteousness.
He lift us here to be light as well.
Matthew 5:14 tells us this, “14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15“nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Knowing Christ means that we are also the light of the world and that means swe need to be sharing the message of the Gospel with people who do not know Jesus.
You know why we are not the biggest church in High Point?
It is because we do very little with the gospel.
It will take more that just me talking about it from this pulpit once a week to start seeing people getting saved.
It’s going to take me and you and you and you and you going to win them at work, in our neighborhoods and at our social happenings.
Jesus is using our lives to bear witness to Him
I was over at Scott’s house last year and he brought out this big light that would blind an astronaut on the moon if you shined it in his eyes.
That is the kind of light we are supposed to be for Jesus.
We are supposed to shine brightly so that others can see his light in us.
What does it mean to have the light of life?
It means that we can see our sin and God’s good will for us and it means others can see Christ in us.
Let his light shine in your life today.
Let it shine
I grew up on the coast of SC and if you have ever been there during the summer you may have seen the phenomenon known as the palmetto bug. The palmetto bug is really a roach. It is big and so black and shiny that it looks almost blue. What really makes the palmetto bug different from other vermin is that they are not afraid of the light. They will come out at almost any time and scare unsuspecting little sisters and moms to death. Heh heh heh.
Describing the Biblical Text
In this text Jesus has just finished forgiving the woman caught in adultery.
He is now discussing who he is and what His nature is.
I want you to look back at chapter 7 for just a second. We will begin our reading at verse 40.
The Pharisees had already concluded that Jesus was a problem.
They wanted Him out of the way.
They were willing to do anything to get him out of the way except make themselves look bad.
This is why we see them asking others why they did not seize Jesus.
The Pharisees didn’t want to arrest Jesus because of his popularity so they were hoping someone else would do it.
But they didn’t.
And, their answer as to why they didn’t was so compelling.
Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.
Narrate the Contextual application
Then the Pharisees were getting kind of bent out of shape over the guards not arresting Jesus and they began to question his teaching based on his following.
That would be like me questioning Charles Stanley’s teaching because the ACLU didn’t like it.
Yet there was something that we might not see at first glance.
The guards did not arrest Jesus because he was giving them something that they had not received in a long time and that was light.
Jesus was teaching them like they had never been taught before.
They were hearing things they never heard before.
Life Application (thesis)
Jesus was revealing the teaching of heaven and they were experiencing God like they had never experienced Him before.
That’s because they had light.
You know what I mean.
Have you ever lost power at night?
You forget where the furniture is until a stubbed toe reminds you.
Then, when the lights come back on you are relieved because you don’t have to stumble around the house with lamps and candles.
Think about living life without light.
Not luminescent light but the light from Heaven.
Think about life with no revelation from God to lead us to truth or to help us to see right from Wrong.
That is really what a life without Jesus is.
It is a life without light.
When we are following Jesus we have the light of life.
This will then bring the lights up for us as we will see two illuminations from this text.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
Following Jesus means that our lives are illumined by Him.
The Palmetto bug is different from most other roaches in that they are not repelled by the light.
I have been in people’s homes who did not really care about their housekeeping and they would take you 9into a room and turn on the light and a gazillion roaches and bugs would run for cover.
Palmetto bugs will come out to the light.
If you get a well lit Palmetto tree it will be covered by the bluish black bugs crawling chirping and flying, yes flying all around it.
Look at vv 12
What really characterizes the life of the follower of Christ is how that person actually follows Christ.
Christ is a light that draws his followers after Him.
I received a bumper sticker on my facebook page yesterday that said, “It is not a religion, it is a relationship.”
The follower of Jesus Christ wants to deepen and to develop that relationship.
IOW he wants to walk in the light in order to be with Jesus and where Jesus is.
John 3:19-21 says this, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
If we desire to be Christlike, something has to be there to do a couple of things.
Something has to reveal the sin that can easily beset and ruin our relationship to the Lord and even with other believers.
When light shines into darkness, particularly the darkened heart, it reveals the blackness of sin and the destruction of that behavior.
It reveals the reality of our condemnation before God.
But the light also reveals the will of God.
There is a family that I know that is facing a very serious decision regarding some spiritual issues.
This is a family that desires to be in the center of God’s will so what are they doing?
They are praying; they are seeking the counsel of their pastor and other godly people; they are looking for wisdom in the Bible.
They are shining the light of Christ on their situation.
What is our reaction to the light?
Remember the words of verse 12?
I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.
As we live our lives and the light of truth shines on us revealing both our sin and the Fathers will, how do we react?
Are we like those palmetto bus that fly to the light and chirp and crawl all over that tree or are we like the vermin roaches that run for cover anywhere we can hide from the light?
That really defines us as followers of Jesus Christ.
Do we want to live in the light or away from it?
Listen to what the apostle John wrote later in the book of 1 john
5This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Our second illumination this morning is this
Following Jesus means that our Lord is illumined by Him.
Look at verses 18-20
Jesus is the light o the world bearing witness to himself but doing that in order that should do something as well.
Jesus left the church on the earth to be his body.
He left us here as His mouthpieces for righteousness.
He lift us here to be light as well.
Matthew 5:14 tells us this, “14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15“nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Knowing Christ means that we are also the light of the world and that means swe need to be sharing the message of the Gospel with people who do not know Jesus.
You know why we are not the biggest church in High Point?
It is because we do very little with the gospel.
It will take more that just me talking about it from this pulpit once a week to start seeing people getting saved.
It’s going to take me and you and you and you and you going to win them at work, in our neighborhoods and at our social happenings.
Jesus is using our lives to bear witness to Him
I was over at Scott’s house last year and he brought out this big light that would blind an astronaut on the moon if you shined it in his eyes.
That is the kind of light we are supposed to be for Jesus.
We are supposed to shine brightly so that others can see his light in us.
What does it mean to have the light of life?
It means that we can see our sin and God’s good will for us and it means others can see Christ in us.
Let his light shine in your life today.
Let it shine
I Am -- I Am The Bread of Life -- John 6:22-51
Introduction
1970’s commercial
Is it live or is it Memorex
Sometimes it is hard to know the difference between that which is good and that which is the best.
In his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t, Jim Collins points out that good is the enemy of great in that when an organization sees itself as good, it seldom pursues greatness. It becomes self satisfied.
Describing the Biblical Text
Back in the day when the Israelites were grumbling about their provisions in the Exodus from Egypt, God provided for them bread from heaven or manna.
This was such an important provision that manna was even preserved in the Ark of the Covenant.
To the Jews of Jesus day, manna was the only bread from heaven that could or would be.
But, the problem with the original manna was the same problem with the sacrificial system.
It had to be gathered over and over every day.
Now when Jesus fed the 5000 earlier in this chapter, he started something of a furor as people then continued to follow Him just because they got a free meal.
Narrate the Contextual application
Think about the situation.
It is late in the day and you are getting hungry and you are surrounded by throngs of people. Instead of going home you find that you are being instructed to sit down in small groups of people. And these baskets start going around and they never run out. If anything, they keep getting fuller. You eat your fill and then you see that there was even bred left over.
You thing Dang, can this guy do this every day?
You look for him when it’s time to eat because he met this need once and it did not cost anyone anything.
Then when it’s time to eat again, he nails your attitude.
You are just following me because I gave you something to eat.
Life Application (thesis)
Then Jesus gives you some real insight, insight about himself that has become the theme of this morning’s message.
Jesus is the true bread from heaven.
As we build outreaching this morning, we will build it on this theme by looking at two implications of Jesus as the true bread from heaven.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
Faith in Christ always points to Christ.
Look at verse 26
Notice what Jesus said here is the work that leads to eternal life?
It is believing in the son of God.
There are so many things that we do even as followers of Christ that do not point to Christ.
Think about our committee meetings.
How many times in those meetings do we really center the meeting on how we are following Christ?
How often do we plan to do good stuff but really fail to plan to follow Christ?
All too often we are like the Jews of Jesus’ day.
They were looking for the benefit of following Christ rather than the fulfillment of Christ Himself.
They were staying with him for the free meal.
When he told them that God sent the manna but He was the true bread, what did these Jews do?
They asked Jesus for a sign.
IOW, they wanted more manna.
They wanted to eat some more.
They were interested in God and following Him for what they could get out of it.
Christ alone was not enough.
I want us to look at this in a couple of different ways.
Let’s say you were starving, really hungry. You had not eaten in 10 days and you ended up by some strange quirk of circumstances at a very fancy restaurant with hundreds of dollars to spend. The filet mignon on the menu would mean nothing to you in light of the basket of bread that was on the table. You have a need that has to be satisfied and bread is all that is necessary to satisfy that need.
We have a basic need in our lives for God.
That need arises from a condition that had made us devoid of anything spiritual.
That condition called sin separates us from God and the only remedy is the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
He sets us free from the penalty of sin which is eternal separation from God in hell.
When He died on the cross he paid our penalty and received our punishment so should our faith in Him be about him.
Another thing that we need to consider about that is Christ should be the supreme object of our affection.
I think too often we make other things actually more important than Christ himself.
Some people look at their church attendance as being supremely important but it is only as important as it being done to obey the savior.
Maybe it is time for us to pray this morning about what has taken the very first place in our lives and to make sure that it is occupied by Jesus and Jesus Alone.
Verse 36 is so telling isn’t it?
How many of us have seen the savior at work in our lives and in our church and yet we don’t believe.
Oh, we believe in Jesus as the savior and we have trusted him but our lives do not paint that picture.
I remember an older resume that I prepared and when a friend of mine from Northern Virginia looked at it, he commented that it looked like my hobbies were the most important thing in my life.
That was his way of saying that my resume did not reflect my skills or my experience as a pastor.
Well our lives have to reflect Christ and not all the religious trappings of our faith.
People won’t really care if we come to church, teach Sunday school, lead missions groups, sing in the choir, preach in the pulpit, or anything else if they don’t first see that we love Jesus with all our hearts.
Faith in Christ is always about Christ.
With that in mind, let’s think about this.
Faith in Christ always prepares us for a future with Christ.
This would be our second implication point to Jesus as the true bread from heaven.
Look at verse 40
On the last day we who have believed in Jesus will be raised up by Jesus.
The word raised up here is the verb form of the word resurrection.
This is an astounding statement because it points an awesome victory in Christ.
This is a victory that he accomplishes over death for us.
But, what is even more exciting is to see that God has prepared us for our faith in Jesus.
Look back up to verse 36. [read to verse 37
Jesus is essentially saying that you don’t believe because God has not given you to me. You are not called to have faith
Let’s read on picking up at verse 38
No one that comes to God can be cast out by God because they are given to Him by God.
This is the idea of Him losing nothing.
Now slide your eye down the page to verse 44-45.
Those who are taught by God come to Jesus.
In theology, this is an idea that is known as irresistible grace or another way to put it is effectual calling.
It simply means that those whom God calls to Jesus come to Jesus and they shall be lifted up on the last day.
I am glad that we don’t sing songs like the savior is waiting because He is not.
Jesus does not sit in the portals of heaven waiting with bated breath to see if someone will come to Him.
Jesus isn’t wringing his hands together saying, “I hope he gets saved today.”
He already knows that all that the Father has given him will come to him and unless the Father draws them, they cannot come.
They are much like these people who were miraculously fed by Jesus and yet in spite of seeing who he is can’t and won’t come to Him.
When Jesus says that the field is white unto harves, it is because he knows what is in the field.
I drove down the road this year and saw soy beans in the field because the field wasn’t worth cranking the tractor.
The farmers knew that with the drought they didn’t have any beans to harvest.
Jesus knows that the fields are white because God is calling and drawing people and Jesus knows them.
That is why Romans 8 says for whom he did foreknow them he did predestine.
That is also why Romans 8:30 ends with the statement them that he justified He also glorified.
They will be lifted up on the last day.
We are prepared for a future with Christ because we have a past with Christ.
It began in the realm of eternity past and it lasts to eternity future.
Are you feeling God’s call today?
Are you being drawn to the savior?
If God is calling you come.
Just come.
1970’s commercial
Is it live or is it Memorex
Sometimes it is hard to know the difference between that which is good and that which is the best.
In his book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t, Jim Collins points out that good is the enemy of great in that when an organization sees itself as good, it seldom pursues greatness. It becomes self satisfied.
Describing the Biblical Text
Back in the day when the Israelites were grumbling about their provisions in the Exodus from Egypt, God provided for them bread from heaven or manna.
This was such an important provision that manna was even preserved in the Ark of the Covenant.
To the Jews of Jesus day, manna was the only bread from heaven that could or would be.
But, the problem with the original manna was the same problem with the sacrificial system.
It had to be gathered over and over every day.
Now when Jesus fed the 5000 earlier in this chapter, he started something of a furor as people then continued to follow Him just because they got a free meal.
Narrate the Contextual application
Think about the situation.
It is late in the day and you are getting hungry and you are surrounded by throngs of people. Instead of going home you find that you are being instructed to sit down in small groups of people. And these baskets start going around and they never run out. If anything, they keep getting fuller. You eat your fill and then you see that there was even bred left over.
You thing Dang, can this guy do this every day?
You look for him when it’s time to eat because he met this need once and it did not cost anyone anything.
Then when it’s time to eat again, he nails your attitude.
You are just following me because I gave you something to eat.
Life Application (thesis)
Then Jesus gives you some real insight, insight about himself that has become the theme of this morning’s message.
Jesus is the true bread from heaven.
As we build outreaching this morning, we will build it on this theme by looking at two implications of Jesus as the true bread from heaven.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
Faith in Christ always points to Christ.
Look at verse 26
Notice what Jesus said here is the work that leads to eternal life?
It is believing in the son of God.
There are so many things that we do even as followers of Christ that do not point to Christ.
Think about our committee meetings.
How many times in those meetings do we really center the meeting on how we are following Christ?
How often do we plan to do good stuff but really fail to plan to follow Christ?
All too often we are like the Jews of Jesus’ day.
They were looking for the benefit of following Christ rather than the fulfillment of Christ Himself.
They were staying with him for the free meal.
When he told them that God sent the manna but He was the true bread, what did these Jews do?
They asked Jesus for a sign.
IOW, they wanted more manna.
They wanted to eat some more.
They were interested in God and following Him for what they could get out of it.
Christ alone was not enough.
I want us to look at this in a couple of different ways.
Let’s say you were starving, really hungry. You had not eaten in 10 days and you ended up by some strange quirk of circumstances at a very fancy restaurant with hundreds of dollars to spend. The filet mignon on the menu would mean nothing to you in light of the basket of bread that was on the table. You have a need that has to be satisfied and bread is all that is necessary to satisfy that need.
We have a basic need in our lives for God.
That need arises from a condition that had made us devoid of anything spiritual.
That condition called sin separates us from God and the only remedy is the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
He sets us free from the penalty of sin which is eternal separation from God in hell.
When He died on the cross he paid our penalty and received our punishment so should our faith in Him be about him.
Another thing that we need to consider about that is Christ should be the supreme object of our affection.
I think too often we make other things actually more important than Christ himself.
Some people look at their church attendance as being supremely important but it is only as important as it being done to obey the savior.
Maybe it is time for us to pray this morning about what has taken the very first place in our lives and to make sure that it is occupied by Jesus and Jesus Alone.
Verse 36 is so telling isn’t it?
How many of us have seen the savior at work in our lives and in our church and yet we don’t believe.
Oh, we believe in Jesus as the savior and we have trusted him but our lives do not paint that picture.
I remember an older resume that I prepared and when a friend of mine from Northern Virginia looked at it, he commented that it looked like my hobbies were the most important thing in my life.
That was his way of saying that my resume did not reflect my skills or my experience as a pastor.
Well our lives have to reflect Christ and not all the religious trappings of our faith.
People won’t really care if we come to church, teach Sunday school, lead missions groups, sing in the choir, preach in the pulpit, or anything else if they don’t first see that we love Jesus with all our hearts.
Faith in Christ is always about Christ.
With that in mind, let’s think about this.
Faith in Christ always prepares us for a future with Christ.
This would be our second implication point to Jesus as the true bread from heaven.
Look at verse 40
On the last day we who have believed in Jesus will be raised up by Jesus.
The word raised up here is the verb form of the word resurrection.
This is an astounding statement because it points an awesome victory in Christ.
This is a victory that he accomplishes over death for us.
But, what is even more exciting is to see that God has prepared us for our faith in Jesus.
Look back up to verse 36. [read to verse 37
Jesus is essentially saying that you don’t believe because God has not given you to me. You are not called to have faith
Let’s read on picking up at verse 38
No one that comes to God can be cast out by God because they are given to Him by God.
This is the idea of Him losing nothing.
Now slide your eye down the page to verse 44-45.
Those who are taught by God come to Jesus.
In theology, this is an idea that is known as irresistible grace or another way to put it is effectual calling.
It simply means that those whom God calls to Jesus come to Jesus and they shall be lifted up on the last day.
I am glad that we don’t sing songs like the savior is waiting because He is not.
Jesus does not sit in the portals of heaven waiting with bated breath to see if someone will come to Him.
Jesus isn’t wringing his hands together saying, “I hope he gets saved today.”
He already knows that all that the Father has given him will come to him and unless the Father draws them, they cannot come.
They are much like these people who were miraculously fed by Jesus and yet in spite of seeing who he is can’t and won’t come to Him.
When Jesus says that the field is white unto harves, it is because he knows what is in the field.
I drove down the road this year and saw soy beans in the field because the field wasn’t worth cranking the tractor.
The farmers knew that with the drought they didn’t have any beans to harvest.
Jesus knows that the fields are white because God is calling and drawing people and Jesus knows them.
That is why Romans 8 says for whom he did foreknow them he did predestine.
That is also why Romans 8:30 ends with the statement them that he justified He also glorified.
They will be lifted up on the last day.
We are prepared for a future with Christ because we have a past with Christ.
It began in the realm of eternity past and it lasts to eternity future.
Are you feeling God’s call today?
Are you being drawn to the savior?
If God is calling you come.
Just come.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
A Celebration of Thanksgiving -- Psalm 100
Introduction
Call on youth to read portions of Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation.
Describing the Biblical Text
This is one of the more famous texts from the Bible.
I can even remember in the first grade, our teacher recited it in class every day.
This is a celebration Psalm which ascribes reverence to God through shouting, serving him and singing his praises.
In this Psalm, we have both the description of God relating to His people and our response to Him.
Narrate the Contextual application
I want you to think about something this morning.
Should we be celebrating our relationship to God?
Should our hearts and then our mouths be ringing forth the praises of God before Him and His throne of grace and among his people?
The obvious answer to that question is a resounding YES!!
We have absolutely ruined that first verse haven’t we?
You know what we think it means?
We think it means that it’s okay to sing in the choir when you can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
I bet you heard more than one person say, “I can’t sing very well but the Bible just says to make a joyful noise.”
That is a good sentiment and there is nothing wrong with praising the Lord and serving him and stretching our gifts even to point where they are not but, if we honestly look at this passage, we will see something else here.
Life Application (thesis)
We see a joyful noise, a shout to the Lord just to praise God for who He is.
Life should a celebration for the follower of Jesus Christ.
And our corporate or gathered worship should be no less a celebration when we come together to feast on the riches of the word of God or to life our voices praisefully to Him or to worship in our giving and our tithing to the work of the Lord.
Worship is not the object of a preposition; Worship is not something to which we go; worship is something we do.
Worship in our lives is indeed personal and private but it is also corporate of group.
We gather in this meeting place, this house of worship and when we do, we are the church visible or gathered and then we can worship together.
Every Sunday should be what this coming Thursday is all about.
It should be about worshiping with thanks.
That is because giving thanks is a celebration in which all followers of Christ should participate.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
This text show us two reasons for this but if we read the Bible even casually, we would see that there many many more.
Let’s look at the first reason in the text.
God made us.
Verse 3 makes that very clear doesn’t it?
We are made in His image.
That is a very strong statement because it reveals that we have innately dwelling within us things that God wants us to be able to do simply because He made us.
We possess the powers of reason and the ability to solve problems like no animal on the earth.
We possess things like language, thoughtful survival (as opposed to instinctive behavior), the capacity to make complex decisions, and, we have the capacity to domesticate most of the rest of the creation.
We are also created with a spirit that enables us to know right from wrong and to understand and realize that there is a God who is indeed on His throne in heave and who brought all thing that are into being.
There is no question that we are special in the sight of God as we were the crown of His creation at the very beginning.
Something else that makes us special is that we, followers of Christ, are also made with his purpose in mind.
Sometimes we feel so very random in the universe.
We are so small and it is so big and there are so many bazillions of people out there that how could God notice me or think that I am special.
But I want us to see the second part of the 3rd verse.
We are His people and sheep of His pasture.
When you think about ancient shepherds, they had a very important job as they were overseeing much of the food and clothing supply.
Shepherds were not simply there to watch sheep, they took that task very personally and knew each sheep in the pasture and every sheep in the flock knew the shepherd as well.
The shepherd had a personal stake in the lives of each of the sheep and if something happened to the sheep either it was stolen by wolves or died from disease. The shepherd would miss the sheep.
He tended to its needs and cared for its well being.
That is very much what God does for us.
In Psalm 23, we see the word, “The LORD is my shepherd.”
In John 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.”
So, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we are compared to sheep and the shepherd lovingly cares for us.
Of course, Sheep have a purpose for the shepherd.
The wool provides warmth and the meat provides food and blood provides for the sacrifice given in worship to God.
The sheep would eventually give his all for the shepherd just like we give our all to the savior who loves us and died to save us.
Part of that all that we give is a shout or a joyful noise.
Hallelujah
Praise God
We come before Him with joyful singing.
That means when we sing amazing grace, we smile like it amazes us not pucker like it annoys us.
Something else that we need to see in the overall idea that God made us is that we were made to do His will.
Sheep only go to the pasture where they are led.
When we go to a pasture where the Lord is not leading us, that is disobedience or sin.
That would characterize our lives before we became a part of the flock of Jesus.
All have sinned and come short of God’s glory
But because Of the rich love of the shepherd, He died for us to remove that sin and its burden which is an eternity separated from God.
After He died, Jesus rose from the dead proving that he is indeed the Son of God having the power to conquer death.
Just look at John 10.
It is in the same context that Jesus proclaims himself the good shepherd that he indicates that He can lay down his life and take it up again.
The good shepherd can come into your life and lead you into green pastures beside quiet waters.
He can heal and forgive.
Will you trust Him to do that today?
We have a second reason to thank God regularly,
God is faithful.
Verse 7 describes this as we see that He is good and His lovingkindness endures forever and we see His faithfulness to all generations.
He is the one who knows the end from the beginning and who has brought all things into being according to His purpose.
When God purposed redemption before the foundation for the world, He was faithful to accomplish it on the cross by His son
In His accomplishing redemption on the cross, He was faithful to apply it by His Spirit.
We see God as being faithful and true because His word tells us that He is.
He cannot lie so all of His promises come to pass.
He will not leave or forsake us so he is faithfully present in our lives.
Does anyone know the significance of March 19th?
Besides being St. Joseph’s day and Alyson Waller’s birthday, it is the day that the swallows return to the San Juan Capistrano mission every year. They also migrate away every year on the same day, October 23rd.
Their coming and going is something that can be counted on and has been counted on for many years.
You can count on God in His faithfulness as well.
Like clockwork, He will meet our needs and keep our lives in His hand.
So as we give thanks today, give the Lord a big Hallelujah or a shout to His glory.
As we give thanks on Thursday, let’s be mindful that thanksgiving is not a holiday; it is a way of life for the faithful follower of Jesus Christ.
Call on youth to read portions of Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation.
Describing the Biblical Text
This is one of the more famous texts from the Bible.
I can even remember in the first grade, our teacher recited it in class every day.
This is a celebration Psalm which ascribes reverence to God through shouting, serving him and singing his praises.
In this Psalm, we have both the description of God relating to His people and our response to Him.
Narrate the Contextual application
I want you to think about something this morning.
Should we be celebrating our relationship to God?
Should our hearts and then our mouths be ringing forth the praises of God before Him and His throne of grace and among his people?
The obvious answer to that question is a resounding YES!!
We have absolutely ruined that first verse haven’t we?
You know what we think it means?
We think it means that it’s okay to sing in the choir when you can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
I bet you heard more than one person say, “I can’t sing very well but the Bible just says to make a joyful noise.”
That is a good sentiment and there is nothing wrong with praising the Lord and serving him and stretching our gifts even to point where they are not but, if we honestly look at this passage, we will see something else here.
Life Application (thesis)
We see a joyful noise, a shout to the Lord just to praise God for who He is.
Life should a celebration for the follower of Jesus Christ.
And our corporate or gathered worship should be no less a celebration when we come together to feast on the riches of the word of God or to life our voices praisefully to Him or to worship in our giving and our tithing to the work of the Lord.
Worship is not the object of a preposition; Worship is not something to which we go; worship is something we do.
Worship in our lives is indeed personal and private but it is also corporate of group.
We gather in this meeting place, this house of worship and when we do, we are the church visible or gathered and then we can worship together.
Every Sunday should be what this coming Thursday is all about.
It should be about worshiping with thanks.
That is because giving thanks is a celebration in which all followers of Christ should participate.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
This text show us two reasons for this but if we read the Bible even casually, we would see that there many many more.
Let’s look at the first reason in the text.
God made us.
Verse 3 makes that very clear doesn’t it?
We are made in His image.
That is a very strong statement because it reveals that we have innately dwelling within us things that God wants us to be able to do simply because He made us.
We possess the powers of reason and the ability to solve problems like no animal on the earth.
We possess things like language, thoughtful survival (as opposed to instinctive behavior), the capacity to make complex decisions, and, we have the capacity to domesticate most of the rest of the creation.
We are also created with a spirit that enables us to know right from wrong and to understand and realize that there is a God who is indeed on His throne in heave and who brought all thing that are into being.
There is no question that we are special in the sight of God as we were the crown of His creation at the very beginning.
Something else that makes us special is that we, followers of Christ, are also made with his purpose in mind.
Sometimes we feel so very random in the universe.
We are so small and it is so big and there are so many bazillions of people out there that how could God notice me or think that I am special.
But I want us to see the second part of the 3rd verse.
We are His people and sheep of His pasture.
When you think about ancient shepherds, they had a very important job as they were overseeing much of the food and clothing supply.
Shepherds were not simply there to watch sheep, they took that task very personally and knew each sheep in the pasture and every sheep in the flock knew the shepherd as well.
The shepherd had a personal stake in the lives of each of the sheep and if something happened to the sheep either it was stolen by wolves or died from disease. The shepherd would miss the sheep.
He tended to its needs and cared for its well being.
That is very much what God does for us.
In Psalm 23, we see the word, “The LORD is my shepherd.”
In John 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.”
So, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we are compared to sheep and the shepherd lovingly cares for us.
Of course, Sheep have a purpose for the shepherd.
The wool provides warmth and the meat provides food and blood provides for the sacrifice given in worship to God.
The sheep would eventually give his all for the shepherd just like we give our all to the savior who loves us and died to save us.
Part of that all that we give is a shout or a joyful noise.
Hallelujah
Praise God
We come before Him with joyful singing.
That means when we sing amazing grace, we smile like it amazes us not pucker like it annoys us.
Something else that we need to see in the overall idea that God made us is that we were made to do His will.
Sheep only go to the pasture where they are led.
When we go to a pasture where the Lord is not leading us, that is disobedience or sin.
That would characterize our lives before we became a part of the flock of Jesus.
All have sinned and come short of God’s glory
But because Of the rich love of the shepherd, He died for us to remove that sin and its burden which is an eternity separated from God.
After He died, Jesus rose from the dead proving that he is indeed the Son of God having the power to conquer death.
Just look at John 10.
It is in the same context that Jesus proclaims himself the good shepherd that he indicates that He can lay down his life and take it up again.
The good shepherd can come into your life and lead you into green pastures beside quiet waters.
He can heal and forgive.
Will you trust Him to do that today?
We have a second reason to thank God regularly,
God is faithful.
Verse 7 describes this as we see that He is good and His lovingkindness endures forever and we see His faithfulness to all generations.
He is the one who knows the end from the beginning and who has brought all things into being according to His purpose.
When God purposed redemption before the foundation for the world, He was faithful to accomplish it on the cross by His son
In His accomplishing redemption on the cross, He was faithful to apply it by His Spirit.
We see God as being faithful and true because His word tells us that He is.
He cannot lie so all of His promises come to pass.
He will not leave or forsake us so he is faithfully present in our lives.
Does anyone know the significance of March 19th?
Besides being St. Joseph’s day and Alyson Waller’s birthday, it is the day that the swallows return to the San Juan Capistrano mission every year. They also migrate away every year on the same day, October 23rd.
Their coming and going is something that can be counted on and has been counted on for many years.
You can count on God in His faithfulness as well.
Like clockwork, He will meet our needs and keep our lives in His hand.
So as we give thanks today, give the Lord a big Hallelujah or a shout to His glory.
As we give thanks on Thursday, let’s be mindful that thanksgiving is not a holiday; it is a way of life for the faithful follower of Jesus Christ.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Power for Living -- Our Mighty God -- Isaiah 41:1-10
1. Introduction
As a culture, we are inundated with bad news. As we drive down the road, we see gasoline in excess of 3.00 a gallon. As we read the papers, we see taxes going up and government bureaucracy increasing with everyone from the city to the federal government regulating us to death. Flip on the news and we see soldiers getting killed, fires burning out of control and the stock market plummeting. We see scandal abounding as sports figures and politicians and even some religious people getting caught up in unsightly behavior.
In the midst of cultural turmoil, we need to know that we have a sustaining God.
Our God is constant in His love for us and his ability to give us peace in a world and in a life that may lack peace.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
In this text, we see pending judgment coming but we also see God issuing some comfort for His people through the prophet.
As we look here we see what I consider to be one of the Bible’s significant verses.
This part of Isaiah, that is anything that is past the 40th chapter, is a pr
3. Narrate the Contextual application
This is an encouraging passage that assures Israel and Judah that God is in control of their situation and even though judgment may be about to fall, that is simply a sign that God’s love for His people is still in place.
We find in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament that God does chasten those he loves.
It goes on to say that if God’s chastening hand is not on us then we are not His.
That should be a scary thought to all of us.
We need God’s discipline for assurance that we are His.
So if we do not see the hand of God bringing discipline into our lives, then we need to seriously look at our relationship with Him.
In His discipline, we can see that his presence is a vital part of our lives.
4. Life Application (thesis)
Let’s take a look at this truth this morning.
God is our keeper and our strength and by Him, we will be upheld.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In this truth, we will see two certainties this morning as we seek to live our lives in the comfort that God keeps and sustains us.
God has a plan and that plan includes my life.
At the Associational meeting this past Thursday night, Sid Barnett’s son in law told the story of Adoniram Judson the great missionary to Burma.
As the account went, Judson was quite the scholar and fell into a group of deists in college. Deists believe more like God is a clockmaker who built the world, wound it up and just let it go.
There is no personal involvement from God in the affairs of men which as we have seen recently, to believe that is to deny the very essence of God in His sovereign, electing love for us.
In God’s foreknowing us, there is personal involvement from him in our lives from the very foundation of the world.
Look at verse 2
You see a question here. Who has aroused one from the east?
This one from the east is possibly a description of King Cyrus of Persia who would eventually overthrow the Babylonians.
Who lifted him up?
Who put him in his place of authority?
Verses 3 and 4 continue to describe the one who put Cyrus in authority and then answers the question.
Look at the end of verse
BYW if you are following along in our revelation study on Wed night, you will see this term used to describe God there as well.
This is a declaration that God knows it all from the beginning to the end.
Not only is he the one who knows it all, He is the one who causes it all to be.
Remember the name that He gave to Moses in Exodus.
I am that I am.
In that Name, he was stating that He was the one who has always existed.
He was stating that He was the one who brought everything into existence
He was stating that he was the one that caused all things to be as they are.
The God of the Bible is eternal, holy and sovereign.
And, for us to have a relationship with him, we must be brought to a place where there is noting in our lives that would offend a holy, sovereign God.
Yet, we all know that is not the case.
We all have sin in our lives.
It separates us from God and keeps us from having a relationship with Him.
Yet God desires to have a relationship with His people and that is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross.
Jesus when he died on the cross paid the penalty for our sins that we would come to know God through Christ.
The Bible says that there is no one who is righteous.
This unrighteousness separates us from God so God closed that separation by sending His wrath on His son for our sins.
This act of Great love is described in the verse that says, “God demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When Jesus died on the cross for us, he provided to us the forgiveness of God.
If any man will confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that Jesus rose from the dead, he will be saved for his sin and the eternal penalty of that sin, separation from God in Hell.
You might be looking right now for that forgiveness and that relationship with God.
Won’t you pray with me?
I’ll lead and you can simply repeat the words but you need to mean them from your heart.
Dear Lord,
I know that I have sinned and lived badly. I am sorry and desire to live for you now. I am receiving Jesus into my heart to be the Lord and savior of my life. Help me to give you control of my life Lord and to live for you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me and for coming back from the dead. Thank you for saving me today.
If you prayed that this morning, I am going to have an opportunity for you to respond in just a few minutes.
Isn’t great to know that God’s way is the best way?
Really, it’s the only way.
God cares for us and our lives are hidden with Him when we are relying on Him and His wisdom and strength to keep us.
Our second certainty is this.
Serving God means that our lives are hidden in Him.
There are a couple of things that we can take the bank.
Our paycheck every Friday and the fact that God’s plans for us and His wisdom are always better than our own
When we look at verses 5-7 we something that should make us take notice.
We see man attempting to control his own circumstances in his own way without consulting God or what is worse, by creating His own God.
We see the feel good mentality of today’s self esteem, culture don’t we. [Read v 5-6]
Then we see the useless pursuit of Idol worship as craftsmen and smelters and solders seek to put some kind of idol together that won’t totter in order to appease some fertility god and to save themselves from the Persians.
But in verse 8 God says that is unnecessary.
God chose them just like He chose us.
The hand of His favor is upon us and we need to serve Him.
But then we come to verse 10.
What a great verse of scripture this is.
I love the rendering in the KJV
Fear thou not for I am with thee
Be not dismayed for I am Thy God.
I will strengthen thee
Yea I will help thee
Yea I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness.
I am going to ask you a question and I wish you would ask me.
Why do we worry and fret when God is in control?
Why do we anxiously look around us when our circumstances are in his hands?
He controls world leaders and governments rise and fall at His hand.
Remember verse 2 He subdues kings and delivers nations.
If God is able to manage the circumstances of the nations, why can’t he handle our little stuff?
He can and He will if we trust Him and stop taking matters into our own hands.
As we leave here this morning, let’s take verse 10 with us.
God is in control and He loves us.
But better than that, He upholds in the righteousness of his right hand.
As a culture, we are inundated with bad news. As we drive down the road, we see gasoline in excess of 3.00 a gallon. As we read the papers, we see taxes going up and government bureaucracy increasing with everyone from the city to the federal government regulating us to death. Flip on the news and we see soldiers getting killed, fires burning out of control and the stock market plummeting. We see scandal abounding as sports figures and politicians and even some religious people getting caught up in unsightly behavior.
In the midst of cultural turmoil, we need to know that we have a sustaining God.
Our God is constant in His love for us and his ability to give us peace in a world and in a life that may lack peace.
2. Describing the Biblical Text
In this text, we see pending judgment coming but we also see God issuing some comfort for His people through the prophet.
As we look here we see what I consider to be one of the Bible’s significant verses.
This part of Isaiah, that is anything that is past the 40th chapter, is a pr
3. Narrate the Contextual application
This is an encouraging passage that assures Israel and Judah that God is in control of their situation and even though judgment may be about to fall, that is simply a sign that God’s love for His people is still in place.
We find in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament that God does chasten those he loves.
It goes on to say that if God’s chastening hand is not on us then we are not His.
That should be a scary thought to all of us.
We need God’s discipline for assurance that we are His.
So if we do not see the hand of God bringing discipline into our lives, then we need to seriously look at our relationship with Him.
In His discipline, we can see that his presence is a vital part of our lives.
4. Life Application (thesis)
Let’s take a look at this truth this morning.
God is our keeper and our strength and by Him, we will be upheld.
5. SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In this truth, we will see two certainties this morning as we seek to live our lives in the comfort that God keeps and sustains us.
God has a plan and that plan includes my life.
At the Associational meeting this past Thursday night, Sid Barnett’s son in law told the story of Adoniram Judson the great missionary to Burma.
As the account went, Judson was quite the scholar and fell into a group of deists in college. Deists believe more like God is a clockmaker who built the world, wound it up and just let it go.
There is no personal involvement from God in the affairs of men which as we have seen recently, to believe that is to deny the very essence of God in His sovereign, electing love for us.
In God’s foreknowing us, there is personal involvement from him in our lives from the very foundation of the world.
Look at verse 2
You see a question here. Who has aroused one from the east?
This one from the east is possibly a description of King Cyrus of Persia who would eventually overthrow the Babylonians.
Who lifted him up?
Who put him in his place of authority?
Verses 3 and 4 continue to describe the one who put Cyrus in authority and then answers the question.
Look at the end of verse
BYW if you are following along in our revelation study on Wed night, you will see this term used to describe God there as well.
This is a declaration that God knows it all from the beginning to the end.
Not only is he the one who knows it all, He is the one who causes it all to be.
Remember the name that He gave to Moses in Exodus.
I am that I am.
In that Name, he was stating that He was the one who has always existed.
He was stating that He was the one who brought everything into existence
He was stating that he was the one that caused all things to be as they are.
The God of the Bible is eternal, holy and sovereign.
And, for us to have a relationship with him, we must be brought to a place where there is noting in our lives that would offend a holy, sovereign God.
Yet, we all know that is not the case.
We all have sin in our lives.
It separates us from God and keeps us from having a relationship with Him.
Yet God desires to have a relationship with His people and that is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross.
Jesus when he died on the cross paid the penalty for our sins that we would come to know God through Christ.
The Bible says that there is no one who is righteous.
This unrighteousness separates us from God so God closed that separation by sending His wrath on His son for our sins.
This act of Great love is described in the verse that says, “God demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When Jesus died on the cross for us, he provided to us the forgiveness of God.
If any man will confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that Jesus rose from the dead, he will be saved for his sin and the eternal penalty of that sin, separation from God in Hell.
You might be looking right now for that forgiveness and that relationship with God.
Won’t you pray with me?
I’ll lead and you can simply repeat the words but you need to mean them from your heart.
Dear Lord,
I know that I have sinned and lived badly. I am sorry and desire to live for you now. I am receiving Jesus into my heart to be the Lord and savior of my life. Help me to give you control of my life Lord and to live for you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me and for coming back from the dead. Thank you for saving me today.
If you prayed that this morning, I am going to have an opportunity for you to respond in just a few minutes.
Isn’t great to know that God’s way is the best way?
Really, it’s the only way.
God cares for us and our lives are hidden with Him when we are relying on Him and His wisdom and strength to keep us.
Our second certainty is this.
Serving God means that our lives are hidden in Him.
There are a couple of things that we can take the bank.
Our paycheck every Friday and the fact that God’s plans for us and His wisdom are always better than our own
When we look at verses 5-7 we something that should make us take notice.
We see man attempting to control his own circumstances in his own way without consulting God or what is worse, by creating His own God.
We see the feel good mentality of today’s self esteem, culture don’t we. [Read v 5-6]
Then we see the useless pursuit of Idol worship as craftsmen and smelters and solders seek to put some kind of idol together that won’t totter in order to appease some fertility god and to save themselves from the Persians.
But in verse 8 God says that is unnecessary.
God chose them just like He chose us.
The hand of His favor is upon us and we need to serve Him.
But then we come to verse 10.
What a great verse of scripture this is.
I love the rendering in the KJV
Fear thou not for I am with thee
Be not dismayed for I am Thy God.
I will strengthen thee
Yea I will help thee
Yea I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness.
I am going to ask you a question and I wish you would ask me.
Why do we worry and fret when God is in control?
Why do we anxiously look around us when our circumstances are in his hands?
He controls world leaders and governments rise and fall at His hand.
Remember verse 2 He subdues kings and delivers nations.
If God is able to manage the circumstances of the nations, why can’t he handle our little stuff?
He can and He will if we trust Him and stop taking matters into our own hands.
As we leave here this morning, let’s take verse 10 with us.
God is in control and He loves us.
But better than that, He upholds in the righteousness of his right hand.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Power for Living -- Our Moral Task -- 2 Timothy 3
Introduction
Lynn Anderson was a country singer from the 1970’s.
Her signature song was called Rose Garden. The chorus or refrain of the song made this statement, “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose Garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be little rain sometime.”
Describing the Biblical Text
Timothy was a pastor and he was assigned by Paul to take care of the church at Ephesus and if we notice Paul’s description of the times at hand or that will come to Timothy’s ministry, they are perilous.
As we consider the theme of the revival that we had last week, we think about the idea that life is great.
But we must contextualize that.
What is not stated but is assumed is that life in Great when lived in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That was the clear implication of the theme verse from Philippians 3:10.
Paul was issuing a warning to Timothy and then preparing Him to deal with that which he predicted to come.
As we look at the last few verses of this chapter, we see what are some pretty familiar verses as they were the cry of the conservative movement in our denomination.
Narrate the Contextual application
In Timothy’s day, heresy was a very real concern in the church and if you don’t think that it is today, just turn on the TV and watch the preachers in their coliseums and their glass cathedrals and just listen for a few minutes.
They have confused the preaching of the gospel with t eh idea of making people fell good.
Usually the preaching of the gospel does the opposite.
Usually it makes people miserable in the knowledge of their sin and then gives them that peace in forgiveness.
Think about that verse from the song “Amazing Grace.”
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved.
Grace brings the conviction and then grace gives comfort to the soul.
What is the best preparation for the perilous times that are to come?
It is the faithfully fulfilling our moral task in Jesus.
But what is that task and how do we find it?
Life Application (thesis)
That question is answered by a simple statement.
The word of God will equip us to follow Christ in our deeds.
I want you to think about 3 s words for just a minute.
Situation
Spirit
Scriptures
Every situation in which we find ourselves is handled by engaging the scriptures through the Spirit for the wisdom of God.
Every situation in which we find ourselves must me approached from a biblical per5spective on how we can handle it in the power of the God’s Spirit and the wisdom of the Bible.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at this text this morning, we are going to see 2 distinct realities that we will need to confront in order to be equipped by the word for service to God.
Things are not always hunky dory even in church.
Some of us probably remember the Susan Smith story from a few years back. She had a boyfriend that wanted to be with her but did not want to have anything to do with her kids. Her small children were in the way of her having this relationship so she did the unthinkable. She locked her kids in a car and pushed them into a lake.
How could it come to that?
How could someone decide to destroy their own life and the life of the kids and the lives of the father’s family just to be with a boy friend?
Look at our passage.
In the last days, difficult times or perilous times will come.
That word perilous or difficult is only used in one other place in the NT.
In Matthew 8, we have this account given from the ministry of Jesus.
Listen to Matthew 8:28
When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
Paul is warning Timothy that the end times will be times of violence
That is not surprising based on the description that we read in verses 1-5.
When people think what they see in the mirror everyday is more important that what they read in the word or who they should worship, it leads to big problems.
There is an attitude of self-gratification that is described here that has the potential to not only come into the church but to ruin it.
Lovers of self is the very opposite of one who loves God and who loves his neighbor.
Lovers of money are the very opposites of those who seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.
There list goes on and on but what should really jump out at us is the description found in verse 5
“Holding to a form of godliness and denying its power.”
That is a scary thing.
That means that the world has crept into the church.
I think that many people have become confused about what it means to have a worldly church.
I think that if you polled a group of 100 people and asked them what it means to have a worldly church, the answer you would get would come back to music.
If there is a band that plays music that someone might call Rocknroll, then it is worldly.
But, there might be other answers as well.
The church that handles its finances like they are a business could be seen as a worldly church.
The church that has the country club mentality where the social gospel is preached which is neither social nor is it the gospel could be the worldly church.
But if we look at this text and we look at this context, we see worldliness as something much more sinister don’t we?
This is serious business as we consider what is appropriate behavior for a person who is called a follower of Jesus Christ.
It is a cinch what is not.
We see the list right here in verses 2-5 and then we see the Christian response to it.
Avoid such men as these.
Our lives cannot look like these things because we look like the world and we are not showing to the lost around us what a difference that Jesus Christ has made in our lives.
These people have nothing to offer the follower of Jesus Christ except to tear him down and lead Him to stumble into sin.
Look at the results of lives lived like this.
They are impulsive making decisions without any input let alone God’s wisdom.
They claim to be seeking truth but never come to grips with any real truth in that they cannot comprehend the Gospel of Jesus as their eyes are blinded to it.
And what is worse, they ridicule and criticize the true church.
Look at verse 12.
These people who are described in the early verses of this text are shown in verse 13 as actually persecuting the true followers of Jesus.
But, we can’t think that we are too good for persecution or struggle.
We cannot think that we are above receiving any trouble.
Our faith demands that we be troubled.
We will be squeezed for it if we truly desire to live for Jesus Christ.
But, In spite of those who seek to trouble us and to deceive us with partial truth and falsehood, there is something that we can do.
Our second reality tells us that things are always handled well when we allow God’s word to inform us.
There are things that always go better when we have some kind of instructions to guide us.
I almost never go anyplace unfamiliar that I don’t Google a map for the trip.
I hate getting lost and even hate stopping to ask for directions even more.
When we look at our text there we see Paul giving Timothy some very basic instruction
Stick with what you know.
Continue in the things you have learned.
Remember where you got the good stuff
You have known it from childhood.
What is it?
It is the Holy Scriptures, that which teaches you and corrects you.
But, it does something else.
It completes us in so far as is possible in this life.
It makes us perfect and throughly furnished for all good works.
When the violent times come, how do we cope?
When the persecution comes, how do we cope?
We trust that what we have learned from the word of God will be there to inform us and to encourage us.
But, it is also preparing us to do the Lord’s work.
In the midst of tribulation and in the midst of the church becoming that form of godliness without any power, the follower of Jesus is still able to change the world through the power of Jesus and the teaching of the word of God.
But we have to spend time in the Bible.
Psalm 5 tells us that the Lord will hear us in the morning.
I want to challenge you to give the Lord the firstfruits of your day and take some time to read the word in the morning and then meditate on what you read for the rest of the day.
Then as you pray, ask God to give you the wisdom you need to apply the truth of the Word of God.
Our moral task is to know the Bible and to live the Bible that we will bear the fruit that God has called us to bear.
Lynn Anderson was a country singer from the 1970’s.
Her signature song was called Rose Garden. The chorus or refrain of the song made this statement, “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose Garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be little rain sometime.”
Describing the Biblical Text
Timothy was a pastor and he was assigned by Paul to take care of the church at Ephesus and if we notice Paul’s description of the times at hand or that will come to Timothy’s ministry, they are perilous.
As we consider the theme of the revival that we had last week, we think about the idea that life is great.
But we must contextualize that.
What is not stated but is assumed is that life in Great when lived in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That was the clear implication of the theme verse from Philippians 3:10.
Paul was issuing a warning to Timothy and then preparing Him to deal with that which he predicted to come.
As we look at the last few verses of this chapter, we see what are some pretty familiar verses as they were the cry of the conservative movement in our denomination.
Narrate the Contextual application
In Timothy’s day, heresy was a very real concern in the church and if you don’t think that it is today, just turn on the TV and watch the preachers in their coliseums and their glass cathedrals and just listen for a few minutes.
They have confused the preaching of the gospel with t eh idea of making people fell good.
Usually the preaching of the gospel does the opposite.
Usually it makes people miserable in the knowledge of their sin and then gives them that peace in forgiveness.
Think about that verse from the song “Amazing Grace.”
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved.
Grace brings the conviction and then grace gives comfort to the soul.
What is the best preparation for the perilous times that are to come?
It is the faithfully fulfilling our moral task in Jesus.
But what is that task and how do we find it?
Life Application (thesis)
That question is answered by a simple statement.
The word of God will equip us to follow Christ in our deeds.
I want you to think about 3 s words for just a minute.
Situation
Spirit
Scriptures
Every situation in which we find ourselves is handled by engaging the scriptures through the Spirit for the wisdom of God.
Every situation in which we find ourselves must me approached from a biblical per5spective on how we can handle it in the power of the God’s Spirit and the wisdom of the Bible.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at this text this morning, we are going to see 2 distinct realities that we will need to confront in order to be equipped by the word for service to God.
Things are not always hunky dory even in church.
Some of us probably remember the Susan Smith story from a few years back. She had a boyfriend that wanted to be with her but did not want to have anything to do with her kids. Her small children were in the way of her having this relationship so she did the unthinkable. She locked her kids in a car and pushed them into a lake.
How could it come to that?
How could someone decide to destroy their own life and the life of the kids and the lives of the father’s family just to be with a boy friend?
Look at our passage.
In the last days, difficult times or perilous times will come.
That word perilous or difficult is only used in one other place in the NT.
In Matthew 8, we have this account given from the ministry of Jesus.
Listen to Matthew 8:28
When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
Paul is warning Timothy that the end times will be times of violence
That is not surprising based on the description that we read in verses 1-5.
When people think what they see in the mirror everyday is more important that what they read in the word or who they should worship, it leads to big problems.
There is an attitude of self-gratification that is described here that has the potential to not only come into the church but to ruin it.
Lovers of self is the very opposite of one who loves God and who loves his neighbor.
Lovers of money are the very opposites of those who seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.
There list goes on and on but what should really jump out at us is the description found in verse 5
“Holding to a form of godliness and denying its power.”
That is a scary thing.
That means that the world has crept into the church.
I think that many people have become confused about what it means to have a worldly church.
I think that if you polled a group of 100 people and asked them what it means to have a worldly church, the answer you would get would come back to music.
If there is a band that plays music that someone might call Rocknroll, then it is worldly.
But, there might be other answers as well.
The church that handles its finances like they are a business could be seen as a worldly church.
The church that has the country club mentality where the social gospel is preached which is neither social nor is it the gospel could be the worldly church.
But if we look at this text and we look at this context, we see worldliness as something much more sinister don’t we?
This is serious business as we consider what is appropriate behavior for a person who is called a follower of Jesus Christ.
It is a cinch what is not.
We see the list right here in verses 2-5 and then we see the Christian response to it.
Avoid such men as these.
Our lives cannot look like these things because we look like the world and we are not showing to the lost around us what a difference that Jesus Christ has made in our lives.
These people have nothing to offer the follower of Jesus Christ except to tear him down and lead Him to stumble into sin.
Look at the results of lives lived like this.
They are impulsive making decisions without any input let alone God’s wisdom.
They claim to be seeking truth but never come to grips with any real truth in that they cannot comprehend the Gospel of Jesus as their eyes are blinded to it.
And what is worse, they ridicule and criticize the true church.
Look at verse 12.
These people who are described in the early verses of this text are shown in verse 13 as actually persecuting the true followers of Jesus.
But, we can’t think that we are too good for persecution or struggle.
We cannot think that we are above receiving any trouble.
Our faith demands that we be troubled.
We will be squeezed for it if we truly desire to live for Jesus Christ.
But, In spite of those who seek to trouble us and to deceive us with partial truth and falsehood, there is something that we can do.
Our second reality tells us that things are always handled well when we allow God’s word to inform us.
There are things that always go better when we have some kind of instructions to guide us.
I almost never go anyplace unfamiliar that I don’t Google a map for the trip.
I hate getting lost and even hate stopping to ask for directions even more.
When we look at our text there we see Paul giving Timothy some very basic instruction
Stick with what you know.
Continue in the things you have learned.
Remember where you got the good stuff
You have known it from childhood.
What is it?
It is the Holy Scriptures, that which teaches you and corrects you.
But, it does something else.
It completes us in so far as is possible in this life.
It makes us perfect and throughly furnished for all good works.
When the violent times come, how do we cope?
When the persecution comes, how do we cope?
We trust that what we have learned from the word of God will be there to inform us and to encourage us.
But, it is also preparing us to do the Lord’s work.
In the midst of tribulation and in the midst of the church becoming that form of godliness without any power, the follower of Jesus is still able to change the world through the power of Jesus and the teaching of the word of God.
But we have to spend time in the Bible.
Psalm 5 tells us that the Lord will hear us in the morning.
I want to challenge you to give the Lord the firstfruits of your day and take some time to read the word in the morning and then meditate on what you read for the rest of the day.
Then as you pray, ask God to give you the wisdom you need to apply the truth of the Word of God.
Our moral task is to know the Bible and to live the Bible that we will bear the fruit that God has called us to bear.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Power For Living -- Our Mortal Enemy -- Romans 8:28-39
Introduction
Back in the 1970’s there were commercials for a little booklet called power for Living.
To be honest, I borrowed the title of this series from that little booklet.
I remember the commercials were usually played with an announcer making the pitch and a celebrity like Tom Landry giving some kind of endorsement.
As it turned out, the booklet was a copy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was intended to give people real power for living.
As followers of Christ we have power for living but we have a real mortal enemy to that power which is our own attitude of doubt in the ability of God to keep us and bless us according to His will.
Describing the Biblical Text
Romans 8 is really a very important chapter in the Bible but here in the context of the book of Romans it is the climax of the doctrinal section of the book.
This chapter gives the essence of justification by Faith and this section puts it in the hands of a loving sovereign God.
So, where is there room to doubt that God loves us or cares for us?
Where is there room to doubt that God can and will take care of those for whom Jesus died and are now following Christ in the kingdom of God.
Narrate the Contextual application
As we look at this text. We can see that we have a passage of great comfort.
It is a passage of great wealth for the follower of Christ as it declarers an important truth for us.
All things work together for Good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Yet, this comfort is lost on so many followers of Jesus because we fail to view life with the eternal perspective that God is in control and our salvation has been His work from its beginning to its fulfillment.
We have been bought by the shed blood of Christ and the sight of God, that is not only adequate for salvation but it is that which has made our salvation complete in the eyes of God.
Life Application (thesis)
So, if our salvation would be seen as complete if viewed through the eyes of God, what can change that?
Is Jesus going to make an offering for us and then rescind it?
The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus died once for all.
The implication behind that statement is that Jesus did the work and completed the process.
The priests of the Old Testament had to repeatedly offer their sacrifices but the sacrifice of Jesus was once for all time.
Even on the cross He made the statement, “It is Finished.” To indicated that the atonement for sins was a done deal.
Since Jesus has therefore purchased us by His blood, what can take place to change or remove our standing with Him?
Since Jesus has purchased us, nothing can separate us from God.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at that idea this morning we are going to develop it in terms of factors in which we can take comfort knowing that God is keeping us.
The first factor is that we can take comfort in the providence of God.
One of the nicest feelings is to know that you don’t have anything to worry about. Several years ago, we had some family members give a gift of a vacation that was all inclusive. That means that everything was provided including meals and room cleanup and every thing. We had absolutely nothing to worry about. We could about our business each day and have fun and just show up at the restaurant at supper time and a meal would be ready for us. It was cool just to know that someone else was handling everything and that there was simply nothing to worry about.
As we look at verses 8:28-30, we are looking at 3 of my very favorite verses in the New Testament.
Why?
It is because these verses point out to us something very important.
In regards to our salvation, God handled it all.
Our salvation is simply a part of the providential plan of God that included some very important details in so far as we can see in this passage.
All things are working together because God’s providential purpose is fulfilled in our salvation.
Things are working for good to those who love God.
Those who love God are further defined as the one being called according to God’s purpose.
So everyone who is called according to God’s purpose loves Him.
Now, let’s look a little deeper into this passage
Verse 29 begins with the words, “For whom He did foreknow.”
This is the same group as the called that we find in verse 28.
If someone loves God and has been called according to His purpose, that same person was foreknown by God before the foundation of the world.
This is not a general type of knowledge either this is the knowledge that begins a relationship with God.
According to this passage, everyone that God has foreknown will become a follower of Jesus Christ.
We can see that in the following statement: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.
This is important because it shows us that when God predestined us to salvation it was for the purpose of seeing us conformed to the image of Christ.
So, all those that God foreknows are predestined to be conformed to the image of His son.
This means that our salvation began in the mind of God and was determined by Him for the purpose of bringing us to Christlikeness.
Somehow, many followers of Jesus have gotten the idea that predestination is something that the church should avoid or something that is killing churches.
But, how can we avoid that which the Bible clearly teaches.
As a matter of fact, it should be encouraging to us that because we were predestined by God, we are secure in Him and what Christ accomplished for us on the cross.
There has also been the argument that believing in predestination would kill missions and evangelism.
I hope no one here believes that because that would be that William Carey the father of Modern missions couldn’t have been a missionary.
It would mean that James Petigru Boyce couldn’t have been the founder of Southern Seminary, the training ground of pastors and missionaries alike.
It would mean that Charles Spurgeon couldn’t have been the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, the greatest Baptist church in English History.
It would mean that Jonathan Edwards could not have been the greatest preacher in the Great Awakening.
All of these men had a very high view of the Sovereignty of God as it related to salvation.
We would call them Calvinists and much of their theology would have been informed by this very passage of scripture.
The next statement is telling: these whom He predestined, He also called
Remember how verse 28 is worded God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him who are the called according to his purpose.
The predestined are the called and they are called to conformity in Christ.
These whom He called, He also justified;
In other words, those foreknown, predestined, and called have done what?
They have exercised faith because justification or being made righteous with God is by faith or trusting Christ.
Then finally: and these whom He justified, He also glorified
Paul is writing as though our glory is already accomplished.
Think about it.
If we have been justified or declared righteous by Christ what can impede God’s glory?
There is nothing.
So if God has foreknown us, then he has glorified us in Christ as well.
So, in the Providence of God, there is great comfort in knowing that if we have called of God we are secure in Him until the day we are glorified in Christ
A second factor that we see here is
We can be comforted in the protection of God.
Look at the next several verses.
31-37
My brother in law had gone out to buy some gas and was run off the road by another car. The other car kept driving and he went home too. Later that night, the police showed up at his door and arrested him for causing an accident and leaving the scene. At the trial every thing that the other driver said and the policeman tried to prove was disproved and my brother in law was cleared and the charges were expunged from his record.
Who can bring the charge when the sin is expunged or removed from our record by God?
No one can bring a charge against us because God has been for us from before the foundation of the world when he foreknew us and will be for us in eternity when we are resting in His glory.
We rest in his protection now because if God purposed to save us and to have the blood of Christ shed on our behalf, then the point that Paul is making here is that nothing can come against that which God has secured for his own glory and conformity to the image of His son.
And, there is a third factor that we must see here.
And that is we are comforted in the promise of God.
Look at verses 38-39.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Think about that.
He foreknew us by His grace because He loves us.
He predestined us by His grace because He loves us.
He called us by his grace because He loves us.
He justified us by His grace because he loves us.
He glorified us by His grace because He loves us.
God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Everything that God has done to secure our salvation from eternity past to eternity future was done because He loves us.
And because of what he has done, nothing can separate us from that love.
Do you know the love of Christ today?
Are you feeling that call this morning to become a follower of Jesus Christ?
He shed his blood on the cross to give you an eternity with God.
He has taken away the sin that so desperately left you condemned and has replaced it with a perfect righteousness conforming you to the image of His son.
Won’t you receive Christ and follow Him today?
Back in the 1970’s there were commercials for a little booklet called power for Living.
To be honest, I borrowed the title of this series from that little booklet.
I remember the commercials were usually played with an announcer making the pitch and a celebrity like Tom Landry giving some kind of endorsement.
As it turned out, the booklet was a copy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was intended to give people real power for living.
As followers of Christ we have power for living but we have a real mortal enemy to that power which is our own attitude of doubt in the ability of God to keep us and bless us according to His will.
Describing the Biblical Text
Romans 8 is really a very important chapter in the Bible but here in the context of the book of Romans it is the climax of the doctrinal section of the book.
This chapter gives the essence of justification by Faith and this section puts it in the hands of a loving sovereign God.
So, where is there room to doubt that God loves us or cares for us?
Where is there room to doubt that God can and will take care of those for whom Jesus died and are now following Christ in the kingdom of God.
Narrate the Contextual application
As we look at this text. We can see that we have a passage of great comfort.
It is a passage of great wealth for the follower of Christ as it declarers an important truth for us.
All things work together for Good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Yet, this comfort is lost on so many followers of Jesus because we fail to view life with the eternal perspective that God is in control and our salvation has been His work from its beginning to its fulfillment.
We have been bought by the shed blood of Christ and the sight of God, that is not only adequate for salvation but it is that which has made our salvation complete in the eyes of God.
Life Application (thesis)
So, if our salvation would be seen as complete if viewed through the eyes of God, what can change that?
Is Jesus going to make an offering for us and then rescind it?
The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus died once for all.
The implication behind that statement is that Jesus did the work and completed the process.
The priests of the Old Testament had to repeatedly offer their sacrifices but the sacrifice of Jesus was once for all time.
Even on the cross He made the statement, “It is Finished.” To indicated that the atonement for sins was a done deal.
Since Jesus has therefore purchased us by His blood, what can take place to change or remove our standing with Him?
Since Jesus has purchased us, nothing can separate us from God.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at that idea this morning we are going to develop it in terms of factors in which we can take comfort knowing that God is keeping us.
The first factor is that we can take comfort in the providence of God.
One of the nicest feelings is to know that you don’t have anything to worry about. Several years ago, we had some family members give a gift of a vacation that was all inclusive. That means that everything was provided including meals and room cleanup and every thing. We had absolutely nothing to worry about. We could about our business each day and have fun and just show up at the restaurant at supper time and a meal would be ready for us. It was cool just to know that someone else was handling everything and that there was simply nothing to worry about.
As we look at verses 8:28-30, we are looking at 3 of my very favorite verses in the New Testament.
Why?
It is because these verses point out to us something very important.
In regards to our salvation, God handled it all.
Our salvation is simply a part of the providential plan of God that included some very important details in so far as we can see in this passage.
All things are working together because God’s providential purpose is fulfilled in our salvation.
Things are working for good to those who love God.
Those who love God are further defined as the one being called according to God’s purpose.
So everyone who is called according to God’s purpose loves Him.
Now, let’s look a little deeper into this passage
Verse 29 begins with the words, “For whom He did foreknow.”
This is the same group as the called that we find in verse 28.
If someone loves God and has been called according to His purpose, that same person was foreknown by God before the foundation of the world.
This is not a general type of knowledge either this is the knowledge that begins a relationship with God.
According to this passage, everyone that God has foreknown will become a follower of Jesus Christ.
We can see that in the following statement: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.
This is important because it shows us that when God predestined us to salvation it was for the purpose of seeing us conformed to the image of Christ.
So, all those that God foreknows are predestined to be conformed to the image of His son.
This means that our salvation began in the mind of God and was determined by Him for the purpose of bringing us to Christlikeness.
Somehow, many followers of Jesus have gotten the idea that predestination is something that the church should avoid or something that is killing churches.
But, how can we avoid that which the Bible clearly teaches.
As a matter of fact, it should be encouraging to us that because we were predestined by God, we are secure in Him and what Christ accomplished for us on the cross.
There has also been the argument that believing in predestination would kill missions and evangelism.
I hope no one here believes that because that would be that William Carey the father of Modern missions couldn’t have been a missionary.
It would mean that James Petigru Boyce couldn’t have been the founder of Southern Seminary, the training ground of pastors and missionaries alike.
It would mean that Charles Spurgeon couldn’t have been the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, the greatest Baptist church in English History.
It would mean that Jonathan Edwards could not have been the greatest preacher in the Great Awakening.
All of these men had a very high view of the Sovereignty of God as it related to salvation.
We would call them Calvinists and much of their theology would have been informed by this very passage of scripture.
The next statement is telling: these whom He predestined, He also called
Remember how verse 28 is worded God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him who are the called according to his purpose.
The predestined are the called and they are called to conformity in Christ.
These whom He called, He also justified;
In other words, those foreknown, predestined, and called have done what?
They have exercised faith because justification or being made righteous with God is by faith or trusting Christ.
Then finally: and these whom He justified, He also glorified
Paul is writing as though our glory is already accomplished.
Think about it.
If we have been justified or declared righteous by Christ what can impede God’s glory?
There is nothing.
So if God has foreknown us, then he has glorified us in Christ as well.
So, in the Providence of God, there is great comfort in knowing that if we have called of God we are secure in Him until the day we are glorified in Christ
A second factor that we see here is
We can be comforted in the protection of God.
Look at the next several verses.
31-37
My brother in law had gone out to buy some gas and was run off the road by another car. The other car kept driving and he went home too. Later that night, the police showed up at his door and arrested him for causing an accident and leaving the scene. At the trial every thing that the other driver said and the policeman tried to prove was disproved and my brother in law was cleared and the charges were expunged from his record.
Who can bring the charge when the sin is expunged or removed from our record by God?
No one can bring a charge against us because God has been for us from before the foundation of the world when he foreknew us and will be for us in eternity when we are resting in His glory.
We rest in his protection now because if God purposed to save us and to have the blood of Christ shed on our behalf, then the point that Paul is making here is that nothing can come against that which God has secured for his own glory and conformity to the image of His son.
And, there is a third factor that we must see here.
And that is we are comforted in the promise of God.
Look at verses 38-39.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Think about that.
He foreknew us by His grace because He loves us.
He predestined us by His grace because He loves us.
He called us by his grace because He loves us.
He justified us by His grace because he loves us.
He glorified us by His grace because He loves us.
God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Everything that God has done to secure our salvation from eternity past to eternity future was done because He loves us.
And because of what he has done, nothing can separate us from that love.
Do you know the love of Christ today?
Are you feeling that call this morning to become a follower of Jesus Christ?
He shed his blood on the cross to give you an eternity with God.
He has taken away the sin that so desperately left you condemned and has replaced it with a perfect righteousness conforming you to the image of His son.
Won’t you receive Christ and follow Him today?
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