We’re going to talk about Testimony or Testimonies… In Christianity you hear about testimonies all the time. People giving their testimony.
Do you believe that as a Christian, you have to share your faith or do you believe your faith can be a private thing?
What is the definition of Testimony to you?
And what does it have to do with your faith?
The definition of Testimony
: something that someone says especially in a court of law while formally promising to tell the truth
: proof or evidence that something exists or is true
b : a divine decree attested in the Scriptures
2
a : firsthand authentication of a fact : evidence
b : an outward sign
c : a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official
3
a : an open acknowledgment
b : a public profession of religious experience
When we give a testimony, what are we testifying to?
The truth about Jesus
What scripture says about Jesus
Proof or evidence about Jesus
Firsthand authentication of Jesus
Signs that Jesus has performed
Going on record that you believe who Jesus is
Openly telling people who God is and what He’s done
Publicly talking about the experience you’ve had with God
Nothing is more powerful when you are talking to someone than being able to tell someone you’ve had an experience with God. That you believe who Jesus is and why. Ultimately it isn’t about you. It’s about Him. In 1 John 5, it makes it very simple what this testimony is.
1 John 5
We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Some of you may ask where does it say that my faith must be public? I will point out a couple places.
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Jesus talks about being born again - that equals identity. Being born into the family of God.
Then Jesus talks about being born by Water - That speaks of Baptism. What is Baptism but a public declaration of Faith about Jesus. Or I could say Baptism is a testimony about your faith in Jesus.
Being born of Spirit speaks of the power by which we live our lives. The Holy Spirit that dwells in us and empowers us.
What our Identity rests in. What our Testimony relies on. What our Power is based on. For all of those things, the answer is Jesus.
Matthew 10
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Romans 10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
There is something to declaring Jesus as Lord with our mouths… not only in our hearts... that is really important.
Revelation 6:9
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
Revelation 12:11
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Revelation 20:4
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
In two of these scriptures it not only refers to them holding fast to the Word of God but also to their Testimony about Jesus. Not only the objective truth that we talk about in 1 John 5. But they also held fast to their personal testimony about who Jesus is.
Their truth about Jesus
The Proof or evidence about Jesus in their own lives
Their firsthand accounts of Jesus
Signs that Jesus had performed in their lives
Going on record that they believed who Jesus is
Openly telling people who Jesus is and what He’s done in their lives
Publicly talking about the experience they’ve had with God
If we are Christians, we have to have a testimony. We have to testify to what God has done… not only in His Word. But in our own lives. People are dying to hear what God has done in your life. Pastor Joe told me this… remember that each of our lives is a rescue story. The star of that story is Jesus. Our testimony is about how Jesus rescued us. Telling people your rescue story will lead to others having a rescue story of their own.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
"Yeah, it's like that." The Kingdom of God is like a club - Heaven like Hollywood
We’re continuing our series “Yeah, it’s like that.” Jesus talked in parables, so I’ve been thinking of modern day parables that we could use to describe the kingdom of God. Let me start out with a few questions.
What do you think heaven will be like?
Why do you think God will let you in?
Let me start off with a story…
There once was this very attractive young couple. He was a fashion photographer and she was a model who acted on the side. They were very wealthy and they were accustomed to being invited to exclusive parties where they could hobnob with celebrities. There wasn’t a club that they couldn’t get into. Most places knew who they were and the ones that didn’t liked they way they looked. They were the type of people a promoter would want in the club. And even if for some reason, their looks or their fame weren’t enough to get them in somewhere, they could always rely on slipping the bouncer a couple hundred bucks and in they would go. They took pride in being able to do whatever they wanted. After all, they deserved it. They had great style, they had a ton of friends and they knew how to party. Not only did they deserve it, they felt entitled to get into any club they wanted. Besides they spent a lot of money, had attractive friends and knew all the DJ’s. The world was their playground. This is the life they were accustomed to. Being granted access into the hottest spots because they obviously deserved it. Or so they thought.
This happens more than you know. Anyway, one night this couple gets all dressed up and rents a limo with a ton of her girlfriends and they drive down into the city. The usual club that they go to, where everyone knows them has been remodeled and is having a grand re-opening. It’s going to be the biggest club night of the year. Now I don’t know if any of you have been to really high end clubs, but there is a standard that you need to meet if you’re going to get in. The best nights have a dress code. No shorts, no flip-flops, no jerseys, no hats, no tennis shoes. You must be wearing a button-down shirt tucked into your pants and if you are a guy, you must have at least 3 women with you to get in. If you walk up with a bunch of your bros, you are not getting in. And the girls have to be pretty. Just being female isn’t enough. You have to look amazing. Like I said, there’s a standard.
So as they walk up to the club, there is a guy in a dirty white tee, ripped jean shorts and a greasy baseball cap. He’s also wearing flip flops. His face is kinda straggly… he hasn’t shaved or anything. He’s a little overweight and he’s by himself. He’s not in line, not trying to get in the club or anything… he’s kinda just hanging near the entrance, but not trying to get in the club. As the fashion photographer and his model girlfriend and her friends walk by this guy, the man asks if he could bum a cigarette. The guy doesn’t even acknowledge this dude, he just walks right by him and heads to the front door. His girlfriend replies without looking at the guy, “Sorry, don’t smoke.” and continues to the front door.
So now the front door of this club is crazy! There is a line stretched around the corner with people trying to get in. Tons of beautiful people, beautifully dressed all doing their best to try to get by the bouncer at the front door. Now when you go to clubs, there’s always two lines. There’s a line for the normal everyday Joe who has to wait two hours to pay a $40 cover charge just so he can go in and buy $15 drinks and there’s the VIP line. Now the VIP line is the line for all the important people. People the club owner or promoter want to have in as soon as they arrive. Usually close friends, or big spenders, or DJ’s or even beautiful people that the promoter likes and thinks will help their club be more popular. People like our young beautiful couple here. If you go in the VIP line, chances are you’ll be whisked away to the bottle service table of the owner or promoter where you will have the best seats and drink for free. Now there is a bouncer who is in charge of VIP list. If you are on that list, the velvet rope opens and away you go.
So our young beautiful couple makes their way up to the VIP entrance and the gentleman just stands there waiting for the bouncer to open the velvet rope and escort them in. He waits a few moments and begins to get a little annoyed. His girl and her beautiful friends kind of fidget in their high heels. The gentleman clears his throat as to get the attention of the bouncer. Now there are two bouncers. One is checking ID’s and the other is in charge of checking the list and letting in the VIP’s. Beautiful, trendy people are being let in as they check off various names on the list. Both bouncers ignore our hip gentleman. Finally out of frustration and embarrassment the guy asks,
“Aren’t you going to let me in?” He motions to the beautiful women behind him in a kind of “C’mon man! What’s taking so long?” kinda way.
The bouncer finally acknowledges him and says,
“We’re at capacity, Sir. We’re only letting in VIPs. Are you on the list?”
To this, our club going friend takes off his sunglasses and says, “Don’t you know who I am?”
The bouncer repeats, “Are you on the list?”
The guy is now clearly agitated and starts to raise his voice. “I party in here every night! I own this club! Look at me! Why do you act like you don’t know who I am?”
The bouncer says, “Name?”
The gentleman thinks, maybe this is new club policy. Maybe the promoter wants me to give my name. That’s cool. So the gentleman says, “My name is Vipersnake”.
The bouncer’s eyebrow goes up in disbelief. “Vipersnake?”
“Yeah, Vipersnake, now just let us in already.”
“Sorry Sir, you are not on the list.”
“Wait a minute. You can’t be serious?”
“Is there another name?”
His model girlfriend steps up and says, “Samantha Riggins. Model. Actress.” as she bats her pretty eyes at the bouncer and pushes out her chest.
“Sorry. You’re not on the list either.”
She is shocked and her mouth is agape as she shoots daggers at the bouncer with her pretty eyes.
“You gotta be kidding me!” He says, exasperated. “I run this town.”
“Sorry, Sir. Please move along.”
“Oh, I know what this is about.” He pulls out a wad of cash and starts peeling off $100 bills. After peeling 5 of them off, he folds them in his hand and goes to shake the bouncer’s hand.
“Sorry Sir, I can’t take that.”
At this the man just goes bonkers. He starts cussing up a storm, telling the bouncer that he’s going to get him fired. That he is on a power trip and that he can take his $15 an hour job and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Just then, the shabby, terribly dressed guy who had asked him for a smoke earlier walks up to the bouncer and the bouncer opens up the VIP rope and says, “Good evening, Mr. James.” The guy walks right in past the gentleman and his girls… past the long line of partygoers still waiting on the street. VIpersnake is just incredulous. He starts yelling at the bouncer again.
“How are you going to let that guy in? He’s got on jorts for crying out loud! Are you serious? Does the promoter know you let that guy in?” Just then a well-dressed man comes out to talk to the bouncers. He motions towards Vipersnake and his party. Vipersnake starts to feel vindicated as the well-dressed gentleman comes over to talk to him.
“Is there something I can help you with, Sir?”
“Who are you? Who’s in charge? Did you see the guy they just let in? I mean look at us and then look at him. I run this town. I run this club! Who does that guy think he is?”
“He’s my brother.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Ronnie James and this is my party. I’m the new promoter and I have no idea who you are. Now will you do me a favor and step aside so my guests can come in. And don’t ever come back. Thank you.”
I say all that to say this. Heaven is like a Nightclub. It’s all in who you know. Let’s look at some scripture that talks about this. There is a list. A list that has the names of everyone who is getting into heaven.
Revelation 3:5
5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.
Revelation 20:12
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
There are very real consequences to not being on God’s list. An eternity separated from God. I read once that Hell is the final guarantee that what we do matters.
So how can we get on the list?
Believe
Mark 16
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
John 3
13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Romans 10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Once we become Believers… we become sons and daughters of God.
Ephesians 1
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
1 John 5
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Hebrews 2:10
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
Romans 8
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
As Christians, as God’s sons and daughters… as Christ’s brothers and sisters we are on the List. The book of Life is the list and we are on it. But like the shabbily dressed guy, we do not deserve to enter heaven. The reason we can is because we are in Christ’s family. And we are in God’s family because God allowed it as a gift to us. A gift we couldn’t earn.
Ephesians 2
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Beware of thinking that you have it all together… that you deserve to go to heaven. That you are more worthy than other people because of what you’ve accomplished. Even what you’ve accomplished for God. Just like the good looking couple who was rich and seemingly had everything. It didn’t matter because they didn’t know the promoter. All of your good behavior means nothing if you don’t know God.
Matthew 7
True and False Disciples
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
You can’t bribe the angels in heaven with your good works, hoping that will get you into heaven. Your works mean nothing.
God’s primary interest for us is that we know Him. Acting righteous… having good behavior is not God’s end game for us. It is not the thing He wants for us. Because apart from Him, it’s impossible. The number one thing God wants for each of you… is to know Him. If you know Him, you will become righteous. He wants a relationship with you. And He’s made a way for you to do that.
Believe… believe that Christ died for your sins and rose again 3 days later. Believe that Christ is alive and wants a relationship with you. Ask Him to come into your life… to take it over… and to make you into a new creation. If you’ve already asked Christ into your heart… if you already have a relationship with God, I urge you to continue to get to know Him better. In all your ways submit to Him and He will establish your paths. There is nothing greater in this life than to know God deeper and deeper and deeper. That is what we were created for. You want to go to heaven? You want to get on the List? You have to know God.
What do you think heaven will be like?
Why do you think God will let you in?
Let me start off with a story…
There once was this very attractive young couple. He was a fashion photographer and she was a model who acted on the side. They were very wealthy and they were accustomed to being invited to exclusive parties where they could hobnob with celebrities. There wasn’t a club that they couldn’t get into. Most places knew who they were and the ones that didn’t liked they way they looked. They were the type of people a promoter would want in the club. And even if for some reason, their looks or their fame weren’t enough to get them in somewhere, they could always rely on slipping the bouncer a couple hundred bucks and in they would go. They took pride in being able to do whatever they wanted. After all, they deserved it. They had great style, they had a ton of friends and they knew how to party. Not only did they deserve it, they felt entitled to get into any club they wanted. Besides they spent a lot of money, had attractive friends and knew all the DJ’s. The world was their playground. This is the life they were accustomed to. Being granted access into the hottest spots because they obviously deserved it. Or so they thought.
This happens more than you know. Anyway, one night this couple gets all dressed up and rents a limo with a ton of her girlfriends and they drive down into the city. The usual club that they go to, where everyone knows them has been remodeled and is having a grand re-opening. It’s going to be the biggest club night of the year. Now I don’t know if any of you have been to really high end clubs, but there is a standard that you need to meet if you’re going to get in. The best nights have a dress code. No shorts, no flip-flops, no jerseys, no hats, no tennis shoes. You must be wearing a button-down shirt tucked into your pants and if you are a guy, you must have at least 3 women with you to get in. If you walk up with a bunch of your bros, you are not getting in. And the girls have to be pretty. Just being female isn’t enough. You have to look amazing. Like I said, there’s a standard.
So as they walk up to the club, there is a guy in a dirty white tee, ripped jean shorts and a greasy baseball cap. He’s also wearing flip flops. His face is kinda straggly… he hasn’t shaved or anything. He’s a little overweight and he’s by himself. He’s not in line, not trying to get in the club or anything… he’s kinda just hanging near the entrance, but not trying to get in the club. As the fashion photographer and his model girlfriend and her friends walk by this guy, the man asks if he could bum a cigarette. The guy doesn’t even acknowledge this dude, he just walks right by him and heads to the front door. His girlfriend replies without looking at the guy, “Sorry, don’t smoke.” and continues to the front door.
So now the front door of this club is crazy! There is a line stretched around the corner with people trying to get in. Tons of beautiful people, beautifully dressed all doing their best to try to get by the bouncer at the front door. Now when you go to clubs, there’s always two lines. There’s a line for the normal everyday Joe who has to wait two hours to pay a $40 cover charge just so he can go in and buy $15 drinks and there’s the VIP line. Now the VIP line is the line for all the important people. People the club owner or promoter want to have in as soon as they arrive. Usually close friends, or big spenders, or DJ’s or even beautiful people that the promoter likes and thinks will help their club be more popular. People like our young beautiful couple here. If you go in the VIP line, chances are you’ll be whisked away to the bottle service table of the owner or promoter where you will have the best seats and drink for free. Now there is a bouncer who is in charge of VIP list. If you are on that list, the velvet rope opens and away you go.
So our young beautiful couple makes their way up to the VIP entrance and the gentleman just stands there waiting for the bouncer to open the velvet rope and escort them in. He waits a few moments and begins to get a little annoyed. His girl and her beautiful friends kind of fidget in their high heels. The gentleman clears his throat as to get the attention of the bouncer. Now there are two bouncers. One is checking ID’s and the other is in charge of checking the list and letting in the VIP’s. Beautiful, trendy people are being let in as they check off various names on the list. Both bouncers ignore our hip gentleman. Finally out of frustration and embarrassment the guy asks,
“Aren’t you going to let me in?” He motions to the beautiful women behind him in a kind of “C’mon man! What’s taking so long?” kinda way.
The bouncer finally acknowledges him and says,
“We’re at capacity, Sir. We’re only letting in VIPs. Are you on the list?”
To this, our club going friend takes off his sunglasses and says, “Don’t you know who I am?”
The bouncer repeats, “Are you on the list?”
The guy is now clearly agitated and starts to raise his voice. “I party in here every night! I own this club! Look at me! Why do you act like you don’t know who I am?”
The bouncer says, “Name?”
The gentleman thinks, maybe this is new club policy. Maybe the promoter wants me to give my name. That’s cool. So the gentleman says, “My name is Vipersnake”.
The bouncer’s eyebrow goes up in disbelief. “Vipersnake?”
“Yeah, Vipersnake, now just let us in already.”
“Sorry Sir, you are not on the list.”
“Wait a minute. You can’t be serious?”
“Is there another name?”
His model girlfriend steps up and says, “Samantha Riggins. Model. Actress.” as she bats her pretty eyes at the bouncer and pushes out her chest.
“Sorry. You’re not on the list either.”
She is shocked and her mouth is agape as she shoots daggers at the bouncer with her pretty eyes.
“You gotta be kidding me!” He says, exasperated. “I run this town.”
“Sorry, Sir. Please move along.”
“Oh, I know what this is about.” He pulls out a wad of cash and starts peeling off $100 bills. After peeling 5 of them off, he folds them in his hand and goes to shake the bouncer’s hand.
“Sorry Sir, I can’t take that.”
At this the man just goes bonkers. He starts cussing up a storm, telling the bouncer that he’s going to get him fired. That he is on a power trip and that he can take his $15 an hour job and stick it where the sun don’t shine. Just then, the shabby, terribly dressed guy who had asked him for a smoke earlier walks up to the bouncer and the bouncer opens up the VIP rope and says, “Good evening, Mr. James.” The guy walks right in past the gentleman and his girls… past the long line of partygoers still waiting on the street. VIpersnake is just incredulous. He starts yelling at the bouncer again.
“How are you going to let that guy in? He’s got on jorts for crying out loud! Are you serious? Does the promoter know you let that guy in?” Just then a well-dressed man comes out to talk to the bouncers. He motions towards Vipersnake and his party. Vipersnake starts to feel vindicated as the well-dressed gentleman comes over to talk to him.
“Is there something I can help you with, Sir?”
“Who are you? Who’s in charge? Did you see the guy they just let in? I mean look at us and then look at him. I run this town. I run this club! Who does that guy think he is?”
“He’s my brother.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Ronnie James and this is my party. I’m the new promoter and I have no idea who you are. Now will you do me a favor and step aside so my guests can come in. And don’t ever come back. Thank you.”
I say all that to say this. Heaven is like a Nightclub. It’s all in who you know. Let’s look at some scripture that talks about this. There is a list. A list that has the names of everyone who is getting into heaven.
Revelation 3:5
5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.
Revelation 20:12
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
There are very real consequences to not being on God’s list. An eternity separated from God. I read once that Hell is the final guarantee that what we do matters.
So how can we get on the list?
Believe
Mark 16
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
John 3
13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Romans 10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Once we become Believers… we become sons and daughters of God.
Ephesians 1
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
1 John 5
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Hebrews 2:10
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
Romans 8
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
As Christians, as God’s sons and daughters… as Christ’s brothers and sisters we are on the List. The book of Life is the list and we are on it. But like the shabbily dressed guy, we do not deserve to enter heaven. The reason we can is because we are in Christ’s family. And we are in God’s family because God allowed it as a gift to us. A gift we couldn’t earn.
Ephesians 2
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Beware of thinking that you have it all together… that you deserve to go to heaven. That you are more worthy than other people because of what you’ve accomplished. Even what you’ve accomplished for God. Just like the good looking couple who was rich and seemingly had everything. It didn’t matter because they didn’t know the promoter. All of your good behavior means nothing if you don’t know God.
Matthew 7
True and False Disciples
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
You can’t bribe the angels in heaven with your good works, hoping that will get you into heaven. Your works mean nothing.
God’s primary interest for us is that we know Him. Acting righteous… having good behavior is not God’s end game for us. It is not the thing He wants for us. Because apart from Him, it’s impossible. The number one thing God wants for each of you… is to know Him. If you know Him, you will become righteous. He wants a relationship with you. And He’s made a way for you to do that.
Believe… believe that Christ died for your sins and rose again 3 days later. Believe that Christ is alive and wants a relationship with you. Ask Him to come into your life… to take it over… and to make you into a new creation. If you’ve already asked Christ into your heart… if you already have a relationship with God, I urge you to continue to get to know Him better. In all your ways submit to Him and He will establish your paths. There is nothing greater in this life than to know God deeper and deeper and deeper. That is what we were created for. You want to go to heaven? You want to get on the List? You have to know God.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Grow up! "Yeah, it's kinda like that." Parable Series
Jesus talked in parables, so I’ve been thinking of modern day parables that we could use to describe the Kingdom of God. We’ve been talking about maturity in church lately… talking about growing up and what that means. Tonight I wanted to touch on a couple aspects of that. But first, here are a few questions.
What fears did you have as a kid that seem silly now? Why were you afraid?
In what areas of your life now, do you feel small or feel vulnerable? What in life affects you the most negatively?
Giant Sequoias are the worlds largest tree. The largest Sequoia was over 311 feet tall and 56 feet around. That’s over the length of a football field. The oldest Sequoia is 3,500 years old. If you’re wondering how old that is, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible 3,500 years ago. They are the oldest living things on earth.
You would think that these old, giant trees must have had a bunch of lucky breaks to have lasted this long. But that is simply not the case. A grown Sequoia can withstand lightning strikes, fire, predators, floods and anything else you can throw at it. Not only that, it needs all of those things to be able to grow healthy and reproduce.
Here’s what I mean.
In the 1950’s, there would be wildfires that would break out in Yosemite and Sequoia National forest and what would people do? Well, they put it out. Seems logical. But what the park rangers found was that as they continued to put the fires out year after year, the Sequoias were dying and they weren’t reproducing. You see, the Sequoias need fire in order to reproduce. There would be thunder storms. And the lightning strikes would set the forest floor on fire. The fire would burn up everything on the forest floor… except the Sequoias. The giant sequoias are made in such a way that they are fairly fireproof. Not only that, the fire would burn up all the other kinds of trees and plant life and the resulting ash would make the soil super rich with nutrients. Nutrients the trees fed off. The heat from the fires would dry out their pine cones which caused them to open up and drop all the Sequoia seeds. Seeds that would drop into the nutrient rich soil and grow healthy. Not only that, the fire burned up all the other trees that would block out the sun over the Sequoia saplings.
These giant trees have gone through a lot to be the giants that they are today. But here’s the great thing about being a giant tree. Once it’s mature, it doesn’t have to worry about the fires… it doesn’t have to worry about predators… it doesn’t have to worry about floods or any other thing. It is strong in whatever circumstances it finds itself in.
A sapling has to be worried about the environment around it. It has to worry about predators, fire, violent storms, lack of sunlight and infestation. An immature tree is affected by a lot.
What are you affected by?
Being immature in Christ can cause you to fear your circumstances, fear people and allow the worries and cares of the day to rip you apart.
Being mature in Christ allows you to be strong in your circumstances, allows what people say and think about you to not matter and keeps you from being blown to and fro by your everyday circumstances.
One of the things we’re affected by is how we feel about ourselves. We are our own worst enemy sometimes. The great thing about salvation is that when you are saved, you get everything God has for you. But if you don’t know what God says about you, about who you really are… you will doubt that you are a Giant Sequoia. You will see yourself as a tiny sapling. Legally, no one receives their inheritance until they are 18 years old. If they are under 18, it is held in a trust until they are of age. There’s a level of maturity that has to be reached before you can access everything God has for you. If you don’t let God define who you are… if you don’t believe that He has made you a Giant Sequoia, it will be difficult for you to live like it. That’s why we renew our mind with the Word of God.
Ephesians 4
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
We are not to be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves… As Christians, God has created us to be strong and firm. When we are mature, we are not moved. How are we mature? By allowing Christ to be our head. The head holds the brain and the brain tells us what to do.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
When you are mature in Christ, you live above the fray, just like the Giant Sequoias. When we don’t fight with each other, when we don’t allow ourselves to get angry or feel like we have to defend ourselves, we can rest in the fact that people don’t control our destinies. Let me show you how Christ did it.
Mark 14:
55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Mark 15:
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
How many of us when push comes to shove can walk away from those who talk junk about us? That is a sign of maturity. How often do we rush to our own defenses? How many Facebook statuses do you read every day of people trying to justify themselves? Of people trying to plead their case? Of people being offended about what someone else said about them? Brothers and sisters, this should not be so.
Luke 6
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
This is the path to maturity. When you are not so worried about what people think of you, you grow. God will defend you.
James 1
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
When you are immature, you are afraid. You are afraid of what people think of you. You wonder how you’re going to live life. You don’t trust God with everything, so everything becomes scary. When you are immature, you are primarily worried about yourself. If we’re not careful, we can allow the cares of this life and other people’s opinions of ourselves to choke the life out of us.
Matthew 13 Parable of the Sower
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Here’s the thing… You all were meant to go through trials and tribulations… lightning storms and fires. When we ask God to save us from every trial, what ends up happening is that the life in us gets choked out of us because we are distracted by other things. We need God to send fire in our lives to destroy all the things around us that compete for His attention. Whether it’s your relationships and friends… whether it’s your family… whether it’s Facebook and video games or whatever takes up the time that God desires to spend with you. You can withstand fire in your circumstances. You are a Giant Sequoia. You need God to take away everything that isn’t bringing you closer to Him. Because once everything in your life is about Him, that’s when you’ll grow. You’ll find you can see the sun(Son) better because there aren’t competing trees blocking your view of it(Him). You’ll find that your heart is fertile soil, because it has been refined of everything that would keep you from Him.
And then, when you are mature… you will be able to reproduce. A mature tree is always trying to multiply. A young tree cannot multiply. A young Sequoia cannot attempt to reproduce until it is at least 12 years old. We multiply by being otherly-centered and not just focused on ourselves. And these difficult circumstances and relationships we face? That is the soil that will allow us to multiply in Christ. And the great thing is… because Christ is in us, we can stand up under any problems or issues we face.
Mark 4
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Matthew 17
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Philippians 1
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
You start out with a mustard seed of faith. Even then at the beginning, nothing is impossible for you. But as you mature in Christ, that mustard seed becomes a large tree. And the great thing is, Christ is the person who plants you and makes sure you become the mature tree He intended you to be. When you are a Giant Sequoia, you won’t be moved by the storms or fires of life. You will withstand everything life throws at you, because the testing of your faith(that mustard seed) produces perseverance. And perseverance will produce maturity in you. If life was easy for you, you wouldn’t grow. You would get weaker. When you work out, what are you doing? You are ripping your muscles apart. But then they grow back stronger. This is how we should look at life’s problems.
As long as you are immature… you will be afraid of your circumstances. You will be caught up in what people think of you. You will struggle with small things.
When you are mature in your faith… there isn’t anything you can’t handle. You aren’t worried about what people think of you because you know who God says you are. The small, petty things of life are down low on the ground and can’t hurt you.
You are a Giant Sequoia. Don’t settle for being a tiny sapling.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
"Yeah, it's like that." Series - The Intersect
Parables and Storytelling
Movies are storytelling. And what makes up a good story? Well in any movie you have the 3 act format.
Act 1 - We introduce our hero and the world they live in. Characters and their relationship to each other.
Act 2 - We introduce a problem to our hero that sends our hero looking for a solution.
Act 3 - Our hero comes up against the problem and saves the day.
Jesus was a storyteller. He taught in Parables. Why did Jesus teach in Parables? Because we are wired to learn through stories. You know what the one thing the Jews in the Old Testament were good at? Telling stories.
We all enjoy a good story, whether it's a novel, a movie, or simply something one of our friends is explaining to us. But why do we feel so much more engaged when we hear a narrative about events? It's in fact quite simple. If we listen to a Powerpoint presentation with boring bullet points, a certain part of the brain gets activated. It hits our language processing parts in the brain, where we decode words into meaning. And that's it, nothing else happens.
When we are being told a story, things change dramatically. Not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our brain that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are too.
Jesus used stories to tell people about the kingdom of God. Stories that you had to think about. Stories your brain had to process. Not everyone understood his stories… but it wasn’t for lack of trying. He engaged people in their heads and in their hearts.
Today I wanted to tell a parable using a show you might be familiar with. Jesus often taught in the language and imagery of the day. Farmers and crops and houses and rich rulers and such.
Ephesians 2
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
I don’t know how many of you have ever seen the tv show Chuck. But I wanted to use the character Chuck to illustrate some spiritual truths. Here’s Chuck’s bio… He works at the Buy More. No direction. No drive. Just hanging out with nerds playing video games. His life is fairly meaningless and insignificant. Of course this is where many of us are before we know Christ. Then something life-changing happens.
Chuck gets the intersect.
http://youtu.be/JLopJjhwhcA
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Chuck did not earn the Intersect. There was nothing in Chuck that deserved to have all that knowledge, all those secrets. He gets the intersect and his life changes forever. So it is when we receive the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit inside of ourselves. He can literally do anything. He literally knows everything and the cool thing is, is that He chooses you to live in and to let you know the things He knows… to allow you to do the things He can do. Don’t believe me?
2 Peter 1:3 as His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.
John 14:12-14
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
You will find yourself in situations where you won’t know what to do, but in the moment, the Holy Spirit will show you what to do. He will give you knowledge and He will give you power. Kinda like this...
Chuck flashes.
http://youtu.be/WHFyOZWUNXI
The Holy Spirit is within us. We have everything we need for life and Godliness.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
http://youtu.be/flUcdtUbYnM
Chuck wants to be a spy even without the intersect. His nature is changed! From a geek who worked at a Buy More with no ambition to now, even though he doesn’t have the intersect, he still wants to be a spy. He is motivated to be a spy for the greater good, to help people. That’s what being saved is like. God changes us from the inside out. He changes our nature to the point that even if we didn’t have the bible to read, our natures would still desire to be like Him.
And this is where you come in… what is your story? All of you have stories about who you were before you knew God and now what it’s like now that you do know God. People are dying to hear your stories. Pray to God to help you find ways to articulate what it’s like to be a Christian. We need to be ambassadors of Christ, ones who not only talk about Him, but show Him to the world. Whether it’s your story or a parable about who God is, God wants you to illuminate the world to who He is. It starts with you. Tell your story.
Movies are storytelling. And what makes up a good story? Well in any movie you have the 3 act format.
Act 1 - We introduce our hero and the world they live in. Characters and their relationship to each other.
Act 2 - We introduce a problem to our hero that sends our hero looking for a solution.
Act 3 - Our hero comes up against the problem and saves the day.
Jesus was a storyteller. He taught in Parables. Why did Jesus teach in Parables? Because we are wired to learn through stories. You know what the one thing the Jews in the Old Testament were good at? Telling stories.
We all enjoy a good story, whether it's a novel, a movie, or simply something one of our friends is explaining to us. But why do we feel so much more engaged when we hear a narrative about events? It's in fact quite simple. If we listen to a Powerpoint presentation with boring bullet points, a certain part of the brain gets activated. It hits our language processing parts in the brain, where we decode words into meaning. And that's it, nothing else happens.
When we are being told a story, things change dramatically. Not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our brain that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are too.
Jesus used stories to tell people about the kingdom of God. Stories that you had to think about. Stories your brain had to process. Not everyone understood his stories… but it wasn’t for lack of trying. He engaged people in their heads and in their hearts.
Today I wanted to tell a parable using a show you might be familiar with. Jesus often taught in the language and imagery of the day. Farmers and crops and houses and rich rulers and such.
Ephesians 2
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
I don’t know how many of you have ever seen the tv show Chuck. But I wanted to use the character Chuck to illustrate some spiritual truths. Here’s Chuck’s bio… He works at the Buy More. No direction. No drive. Just hanging out with nerds playing video games. His life is fairly meaningless and insignificant. Of course this is where many of us are before we know Christ. Then something life-changing happens.
Chuck gets the intersect.
http://youtu.be/JLopJjhwhcA
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Chuck did not earn the Intersect. There was nothing in Chuck that deserved to have all that knowledge, all those secrets. He gets the intersect and his life changes forever. So it is when we receive the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit inside of ourselves. He can literally do anything. He literally knows everything and the cool thing is, is that He chooses you to live in and to let you know the things He knows… to allow you to do the things He can do. Don’t believe me?
2 Peter 1:3 as His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.
John 14:12-14
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
You will find yourself in situations where you won’t know what to do, but in the moment, the Holy Spirit will show you what to do. He will give you knowledge and He will give you power. Kinda like this...
Chuck flashes.
http://youtu.be/WHFyOZWUNXI
The Holy Spirit is within us. We have everything we need for life and Godliness.
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
http://youtu.be/flUcdtUbYnM
Chuck wants to be a spy even without the intersect. His nature is changed! From a geek who worked at a Buy More with no ambition to now, even though he doesn’t have the intersect, he still wants to be a spy. He is motivated to be a spy for the greater good, to help people. That’s what being saved is like. God changes us from the inside out. He changes our nature to the point that even if we didn’t have the bible to read, our natures would still desire to be like Him.
And this is where you come in… what is your story? All of you have stories about who you were before you knew God and now what it’s like now that you do know God. People are dying to hear your stories. Pray to God to help you find ways to articulate what it’s like to be a Christian. We need to be ambassadors of Christ, ones who not only talk about Him, but show Him to the world. Whether it’s your story or a parable about who God is, God wants you to illuminate the world to who He is. It starts with you. Tell your story.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Thoughts on Communion
1 Cor. 11
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
I want to look at the word “remembrance” in these passages. When I was looking over this passage that is the word that stood out to me. Remembrance… remember.
In Luke 22 we see Jesus at the Last Supper asking the disciples to remember Him when they take the Lord’s supper. One chapter later, someone would be asking Jesus to remember them.
In Luke 23 we see the thief next to Jesus ask Him...
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
You see, the word remember means a little more than we think it does. The word remember is not just about thinking about someone and what they did. Remembering is redemptive. The thief is asking Jesus, re-member me when you enter your kingdom. Re-member… put me back together. Put my members back together. Make me whole, Jesus. And what does Jesus do, He redeems the thief. He restores the thief. Remembering is redemptive.
In Genesis 40 we have the story of Joseph in prison interpreting the dreams of the Cupbearer and the Baker. Joseph interprets the dream of the Cupbearer in a favorable way and he asks that when the Cupbearer is restored to his position, he would remember Joseph. It says the Cupbearer did not remember him. At least not initially. Joseph had to stay in prison… in his lowly position. For 2 whole years, Joseph stayed in prison until the Cupbearer remembered him. Once he was remembered, he was restored… out of this remembrance, Joseph was made the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt. Remembering is redemptive.
When we remember someone in the way that God talks about in His word, we restore them to their rightful place. We put them back together. And the great thing about the Lord’s supper is when we put Christ in His rightful place, He restores us. So how do you remember Christ? How do we re-member Christ? Is not each of us a member in the body of Christ? The instructions of Paul that I gave you earlier are preceded by these scriptures in 1 Cor. 11.
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
Paul is teaching on the Lord’s Supper here and what is his focus? It is on the horizontal relationships we have with each other. He is speaking to a broken body. Often times when we take the Lord’s Supper we are only focusing on us and God. On our individual relationship with God. Yet Paul’s emphasis is on the members of Christ’s body. The Lord’s Supper wasn’t administered to just one person… but to many people. All the disciples. It was given in the context of other people. Why? Because each and every one of us is a member of the body of Christ. And God seeks unity in His body.
Colossians 3:15 states:
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Ephesians 4:25 states:
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Thankfulness. Peace with each other. Speaking truthfully to our neighbors. Being in unity. Those are ways to remember Christ. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, what is one of the rules? That if you have something against your brother, go and make it right and then take Communion. If you can’t make it right beforehand, let it pass you by. We who are believers, are members of the Body of Christ. We take communion together because insodoing… we put Christ’s members back together… we re-member Him. And that is a picture of the redemption by which He has bought each one of us. When we remember Christ and his redemptive sacrifice… when we ponder His body and His blood being poured out… and when we do it together in unity… an amazing thing happens. We become a picture of Christ’s body restored. We become a picture of Christ’s body being made whole again. And then we are restored. Remembering is redemptive. When we remember what Christ has done and what He has accomplished over sin and death… we see it not only in our lives, but in the lives of our brothers and sisters around us. We see each other as being restored… we see Princes and Princesses in Christ instead of broken sinners.
The last thing that Paul says about taking the Lord’s Supper is in verse 33.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
Take communion together. As a family. As the restored Body of Christ.
Lord we remember you and thank you for your body being broken for us. We remember and thank you for your blood being spilled for us. Thank you for restoring us. Thank you for redeeming us.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
I want to look at the word “remembrance” in these passages. When I was looking over this passage that is the word that stood out to me. Remembrance… remember.
In Luke 22 we see Jesus at the Last Supper asking the disciples to remember Him when they take the Lord’s supper. One chapter later, someone would be asking Jesus to remember them.
In Luke 23 we see the thief next to Jesus ask Him...
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
You see, the word remember means a little more than we think it does. The word remember is not just about thinking about someone and what they did. Remembering is redemptive. The thief is asking Jesus, re-member me when you enter your kingdom. Re-member… put me back together. Put my members back together. Make me whole, Jesus. And what does Jesus do, He redeems the thief. He restores the thief. Remembering is redemptive.
In Genesis 40 we have the story of Joseph in prison interpreting the dreams of the Cupbearer and the Baker. Joseph interprets the dream of the Cupbearer in a favorable way and he asks that when the Cupbearer is restored to his position, he would remember Joseph. It says the Cupbearer did not remember him. At least not initially. Joseph had to stay in prison… in his lowly position. For 2 whole years, Joseph stayed in prison until the Cupbearer remembered him. Once he was remembered, he was restored… out of this remembrance, Joseph was made the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt. Remembering is redemptive.
When we remember someone in the way that God talks about in His word, we restore them to their rightful place. We put them back together. And the great thing about the Lord’s supper is when we put Christ in His rightful place, He restores us. So how do you remember Christ? How do we re-member Christ? Is not each of us a member in the body of Christ? The instructions of Paul that I gave you earlier are preceded by these scriptures in 1 Cor. 11.
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
Paul is teaching on the Lord’s Supper here and what is his focus? It is on the horizontal relationships we have with each other. He is speaking to a broken body. Often times when we take the Lord’s Supper we are only focusing on us and God. On our individual relationship with God. Yet Paul’s emphasis is on the members of Christ’s body. The Lord’s Supper wasn’t administered to just one person… but to many people. All the disciples. It was given in the context of other people. Why? Because each and every one of us is a member of the body of Christ. And God seeks unity in His body.
Colossians 3:15 states:
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Ephesians 4:25 states:
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Thankfulness. Peace with each other. Speaking truthfully to our neighbors. Being in unity. Those are ways to remember Christ. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, what is one of the rules? That if you have something against your brother, go and make it right and then take Communion. If you can’t make it right beforehand, let it pass you by. We who are believers, are members of the Body of Christ. We take communion together because insodoing… we put Christ’s members back together… we re-member Him. And that is a picture of the redemption by which He has bought each one of us. When we remember Christ and his redemptive sacrifice… when we ponder His body and His blood being poured out… and when we do it together in unity… an amazing thing happens. We become a picture of Christ’s body restored. We become a picture of Christ’s body being made whole again. And then we are restored. Remembering is redemptive. When we remember what Christ has done and what He has accomplished over sin and death… we see it not only in our lives, but in the lives of our brothers and sisters around us. We see each other as being restored… we see Princes and Princesses in Christ instead of broken sinners.
The last thing that Paul says about taking the Lord’s Supper is in verse 33.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
Take communion together. As a family. As the restored Body of Christ.
Lord we remember you and thank you for your body being broken for us. We remember and thank you for your blood being spilled for us. Thank you for restoring us. Thank you for redeeming us.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Love Never Fails... a quick reminder.
How to be the daughter… be the son God created you to be.
You were once a rock, now you’re a raft. Our nature has changed. Not only do we live, we can help save others.
1 John 4
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
God is love. God is in us. Love never fails. Therefore we never fail because we are one with Christ.
1. Are you more known for your gifts, talents, and abilities or more known for your love? Explain.
2. When you share your gifts, talents, and abilities are you motivated by love or are you motivated by how it makes you look, feel, or what it can gain you?
The love talked about here is Agape love - it is defined as unconditional love. A love that expects nothing in return. A love that is not dependent on someone else loving you. This is how God loves us. This was a radical thought to the Corinthians since this type of love wasn’t available until Jesus came into their lives.
As people, we tend to be in competition with each other. We focus on what we can achieve. What we can gain.
1 Corinthians 13
13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
God is changing how the Corinthians see their worth. Their worth is no longer in what they achieve or what they can do. Their worth is now in how they love. And not only how they love, but that they are now one with love. One with Jesus. That is what their worth is now.
Being smart, popular, beautiful and rich without being loving makes you a villain. Watch TV and movies... what do the villains have in common? They don’t have love. They have talent, they have intelligence, they have money… but they don’t have love.
1. Who do you have the hardest time loving? Why do you think that is?
2. What do you think are some practical ways to start infusing love into your relationships?
No greater love has man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. John 15:!3
It is hard to lay down our lives for those who we’re very familiar with.
Remember God loves us with Agape love. We are His children. His sons and daughters. And because He loves us like that we are able to love others like that. As a believer, your DNA has changed. Your nature has changed in such a way that you are someone who is created to love. Love itself is now your nature. And love never fails.
You were once a rock, now you’re a raft. Our nature has changed. Not only do we live, we can help save others.
1 John 4
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
God is love. God is in us. Love never fails. Therefore we never fail because we are one with Christ.
1. Are you more known for your gifts, talents, and abilities or more known for your love? Explain.
2. When you share your gifts, talents, and abilities are you motivated by love or are you motivated by how it makes you look, feel, or what it can gain you?
The love talked about here is Agape love - it is defined as unconditional love. A love that expects nothing in return. A love that is not dependent on someone else loving you. This is how God loves us. This was a radical thought to the Corinthians since this type of love wasn’t available until Jesus came into their lives.
As people, we tend to be in competition with each other. We focus on what we can achieve. What we can gain.
1 Corinthians 13
13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
God is changing how the Corinthians see their worth. Their worth is no longer in what they achieve or what they can do. Their worth is now in how they love. And not only how they love, but that they are now one with love. One with Jesus. That is what their worth is now.
Being smart, popular, beautiful and rich without being loving makes you a villain. Watch TV and movies... what do the villains have in common? They don’t have love. They have talent, they have intelligence, they have money… but they don’t have love.
1. Who do you have the hardest time loving? Why do you think that is?
2. What do you think are some practical ways to start infusing love into your relationships?
No greater love has man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. John 15:!3
It is hard to lay down our lives for those who we’re very familiar with.
Remember God loves us with Agape love. We are His children. His sons and daughters. And because He loves us like that we are able to love others like that. As a believer, your DNA has changed. Your nature has changed in such a way that you are someone who is created to love. Love itself is now your nature. And love never fails.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Conviction vs. Condemnation
When you sin or make a mistake, how do you feel? Do you have a sin that you keep doing over and over again? How do you think God feels about you when you sin?
Condemnation - Blame... to hold responsible, to find fault with.
Conviction - the act of convincing a person of error or sinfulness
Condemn:
Condemnation is the pronouncement of you as a person being guilty and unfit. That you by nature are evil and wrong. This is what the enemy tries to get us to believe. That God despises us and has declared us unfit for use.
Romans 8:1-4
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Christ was condemned for us.
John 3:17-18
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
We, who believe, are not condemned.
1Cor. 1:8
8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He keeps us blameless.
Utmost for His Highest
The bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man's sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away--an infinitely more profound revelation. The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, "I am my own god." This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis--my claim to my right to myself.
Genesis 3:4-5
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Philippians 2:
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…
This is the root of the problem of our existence.
When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man(John 2:25). Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch----only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. "This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light..." (1John 3:19).
Hebrews 9:24-28
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
One time sacrifice. We will never be blamed again.
Colossians 3:3
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
We died in Christ and are hidden with Him.
How do you relate to God when you sin? How does God deal with you when you sin? If you died right now, do you believe you would meet God with all of your sins forgiven?
I used to be scared that if I died during the day, before I had my daily confession with God at night, that maybe I would be separated. I had a real fear that sinning would separate me from God and hadn’t yet grasped that although I could choose to sin, sin couldn’t separate me from God anymore. He had paid the price for my sins… once and for all.
Father/Son dynamic - We cannot be separated from Christ by sin once Christ comes into our life. We still repent and confess our sins to repair our relationship with our Father, not out of fear of being separated from Him.
Conviction: the act of convincing a person of error.
the act of moving a person by argument or evidence to belief, agreement, consent, or a course of action
Convict - convince of error or sinfulness
- declare (someone) to be guilty of a criminal offense by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
Conviction declares that an act that we have committed is wrong, evil or in error. Not that we ourselves are wrong, evil or in error. It is a declaration over our actions not over ourselves.
Condemnation speaks to our nature.
Conviction speaks to our behavior.
We often think that the God of the Old Testament is quite harsh and vindictive but look at this passage.
Nehemiah 9:29-31
29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
Colossians 1:28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Admonish -- to express warning or disapproval in a gentle and earnest manner. To give encouragement to.
Hebrews 12:4-13
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
God's discipline or conviction produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. We are God's children.
Utmost for His Highest
It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, "Oh, that must be from the devil.""Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, "Don't be blind on this point anymore--you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I'm revealing it to you right now." When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God."... nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him." We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, "Oh well, I can't help it. I prayed and things didn't turn out right anyway. So I'm simply going to give up on everything." Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me -- sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost.
Accountability - Confession
1John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
James 5:16
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
In summary... You are convicted to be the person God says you are as opposed to being condemned for the person you were.
Condemnation - Blame... to hold responsible, to find fault with.
Conviction - the act of convincing a person of error or sinfulness
Condemn:
| 1. | to express strong disapproval of |
| 2. | to declare to be reprehensible, wrong, or evil usually after weighing evidence and without reservation |
| 3. | to demonstrate the guilt of |
| 4. | to judge or pronounce unfit for use. |
Romans 8:1-4
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Christ was condemned for us.
John 3:17-18
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
We, who believe, are not condemned.
1Cor. 1:8
8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He keeps us blameless.
Utmost for His Highest
The bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man's sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away--an infinitely more profound revelation. The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, "I am my own god." This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis--my claim to my right to myself.
Genesis 3:4-5
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Philippians 2:
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…
This is the root of the problem of our existence.
When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man(John 2:25). Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch----only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. "This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light..." (1John 3:19).
Hebrews 9:24-28
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
One time sacrifice. We will never be blamed again.
Colossians 3:3
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
We died in Christ and are hidden with Him.
How do you relate to God when you sin? How does God deal with you when you sin? If you died right now, do you believe you would meet God with all of your sins forgiven?
I used to be scared that if I died during the day, before I had my daily confession with God at night, that maybe I would be separated. I had a real fear that sinning would separate me from God and hadn’t yet grasped that although I could choose to sin, sin couldn’t separate me from God anymore. He had paid the price for my sins… once and for all.
Father/Son dynamic - We cannot be separated from Christ by sin once Christ comes into our life. We still repent and confess our sins to repair our relationship with our Father, not out of fear of being separated from Him.
Conviction: the act of convincing a person of error.
the act of moving a person by argument or evidence to belief, agreement, consent, or a course of action
Convict - convince of error or sinfulness
- declare (someone) to be guilty of a criminal offense by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law.
Conviction declares that an act that we have committed is wrong, evil or in error. Not that we ourselves are wrong, evil or in error. It is a declaration over our actions not over ourselves.
Condemnation speaks to our nature.
Conviction speaks to our behavior.
We often think that the God of the Old Testament is quite harsh and vindictive but look at this passage.
Nehemiah 9:29-31
29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
Colossians 1:28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
Admonish -- to express warning or disapproval in a gentle and earnest manner. To give encouragement to.
Hebrews 12:4-13
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
God's discipline or conviction produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. We are God's children.
Utmost for His Highest
It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, "Oh, that must be from the devil.""Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, "Don't be blind on this point anymore--you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I'm revealing it to you right now." When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God."... nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him." We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, "Oh well, I can't help it. I prayed and things didn't turn out right anyway. So I'm simply going to give up on everything." Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me -- sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost.
Accountability - Confession
1John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
James 5:16
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
In summary... You are convicted to be the person God says you are as opposed to being condemned for the person you were.
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