Showing posts with label Preaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Preaching. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday's Sermons
Here is the link for the morning service I did over the weekend. I also did an evening service on Hebrews 11:35-40 it was a lot different from what I had previously done and some people felt I was a little to graphic.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Who Do You Say I Am?
This is the sermon I will be preaching in the morning.
Update: here is the link for the audio
Mat 16:13-20 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Jesus has been with the disciples for a while now. They have seen Him perform many miracles. They have watched Him walk on water, calm the sea, heal people and cast out demons. They have listened to Him argue with the Pharisees and Sadducees. They have heard Him preach many lessons. They have been offered a chance to leave and they said “where would we go?” So now in chapter 16 of Matthew vs. 13 they are entering Caesarea Philippi.
Ceaseara Philippi is one of two towns in Judea named Caesarea. Caesarea Philippi was named by Herod the Tetrarch in honor of Augustus Caesar and the name Philippi is in owner of Herod's son Phillip the tetrarch who rebuilt and beautified the city. It was located at the southwest base of Mt. Hermon. Originally it was called Paneas for the god Pan. And at one point in its history it was a center for Baal worship.
Jesus and the disciples are standing in an area that has a long history of sin as Peter makes his confession. I think that's important because when Jesus calls us we are standing in an area (our life) that is filled with a history of sin. When we confess Jesus as our savior we are saying I'm here trapped in this sin save me from it.
And Jesus asks " Who do People say that the son of man is" Whom do men say that I the son of man am? Notice he calls Himself Son of Man. Jesus wants them to answer about the human side of Him. Jesus wants Peter to acknowledge what the crowds that follow them are saying about this man Jesus who is walking around preaching and performing amazing miracles. This man who is not afraid to challenge the religous establishment of the day.
Vs. 14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Notice everyone they have suggested is someone who is dead or gone as in the case of Elijah. The crowds recognize there is something supernatural about Jesus. They may not realize that this is Immanuel (God with us) but they do know that this is not a regular man. In Mark's Gospel the authority that Jesus speaks with stands out. In Mark 1:22 they were amazed because he taught as one with authority and not as the teachers of the law. The Jews notice that Jesus doesn't speak as someone who has studied the law but as someone who knows God personally.
Some say John the Baptist. John the Baptist! John the Baptist had been beheaded a few months before. Look at what the man that ordered for John's head to be taken said about Jesus. Matthew 14:1-2
1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2and he said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
Herod believed Jesus was John the Baptist. He believed that somehow John had come back from the dead. Many others in the crowd of followers believed Jesus was John the Baptist.
Others say Elijah, Elijah was a powerful man. He was able to perform miracles and they knew that Malachi 4:5 had prophesied that Elijah would come back before the day of the Lord. So it made sense to many that this must be Elijah. Elijah never died and had went to be with God already. In Matthew 17 Jesus is talking to the disciples and they ask Him about Elijah coming first and Jesus tells them in Vs. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. Then they realize in Vs. 13 that John was the one that came in the spirit of Elijah. Peter actually witnessed Moses and Elijah carrying on a conversation with Jesus.
Still others Jeremiah. Wait! Jeremiah! Why Jeremiah? To truly understand why a Jewish man in Jesus's day would think of Jeremiah we have to read the same thing the Jewish people read. There is a series of books called the apocrypha. Apocrypha comes from a Greek word that means "those that have been hidden away". They are a series of writings that are not considered to belong in the canon of the bible. Martin Luther said the apocrypha was 'Useful historical writings”. He also believed that while these books were not inspired Christians should be familiar with them and at times they should even be read in services. The original King James of 1611 contained these books and so do many Catholic bibles today. In the apocryphical books of Maccabees we have some Jewish history and in those terrible times of the seculid kings we read about a revolt. In 2 Maccabees 2:4-7 we read about Jeremiah taking the ark of the Covenant and hiding it in a cave and 2Ma 2:4 It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God.
2Ma 2:5 And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
2Ma 2:6 And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it.
2Ma 2:7 Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.
The Jewish people having heard this and the stories about it believed that Jesus was Jeremiah coming to bring the ark of God out of the cave.
Or one of the prophets.
Notice Peter didn't say a prophet. He said one of the prophets. In Luke's account of this event he even says "Or one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." (Luke 9:19)
They are now thinking of all the prophets and saying he could be this one or that one, but no one is saying hey maybe he is a new prophet, and definitely no one is suggesting that this is the Son of God
In every case the Jews believed that Jesus was someone that had risen from the dead. They believe that Jesus is someone who has been with God but they do not understand that this is God in Human flesh.
Vs. 15 Jesus looks at Peter "But What about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Who Do you say I am?
That is the most important question you will ever answer. Even if you don't believe in Jesus, on the day of judgement you will stand in front of Jesus and answer that question.
Think about that for a minute! Who do you say I am?
That is an important question for all of us to ask .Who do you say Jesus is? That is the question of a lifetime the answer either brings you eternal life or eternal damnation. Think about that the most important question you will ever answer and you will have to answer it someday is; Who do you say I am?
I have heard people say Jesus is a great teacher, but not God. The problem with this view is Jesus went around telling people that he was the son of God. If a man was walking around today and he appeared to be a genius and everyone was amazed at what a great teacher he was, but then this man started telling you well I'm just telling you this because I'm God. I'm the only way to heaven and oh yeah to get there you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. If Jesus was not God then he was a stark raving lunatic. Are you going to go to an asylum and expect to see a great teacher? NO! Are you going to call a crazy person a great teacher?
Many people believe he was a prophet, but not the savior. The problem with that is that God gave us through Moses a way to test the prophets. In Deutronomy 18 Moses says to see if a prophet was sent by God is to see if his prophecy comes true if it does God sent him. Jesus’s prophecy of dying and coming back to life was true. He also said that He was the one sent by God.
Who Do you Say I Am?
How many would answer that with, my Lord and Savior. That is how Peter summed it up. In 2 Peter, Peter refers to Jesus as our Lord and Savior 4 times. In that short letter that is how Peter sees Jesus, and that is how we should view Jesus. Our Lord and Savior. I want to take a minute and talk about these two words though. The word Lord is (koo'-ree-os) it means supreme in authority, controller and master. Basically Lord can be summed up King. King Jesus!
A King is ruler the supreme one in authority and a kings subjects would refer to him as Lord. When we say Jesus is our Lord we are saying that he is our King. A king has many responsibilities they are to keep invaders out and protect their subjects. They are to try and grow their Kingdom and maintain control of those that are subject to them. King Jesus does all these things
look at
· 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
o Jesus will not let sin invade us if we resist it.
· John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
o Jesus protects us.
· Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
o Jesus builds His kingdom.
· Hebrews 12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
o The Lord Disciplines those that are his
My question is how many of you that claim that Jesus is your Lord; live your life, as if He is your King. When you walked in this sanctuary this morning, Did you walk in with the same reverence you would if you were walking up to the throne of a King? Our King gave us a book that tells us what he expects of us! Did you follow the orders of your King this week. Did you even read the orders that your King gave you?
Maybe you don’t like thinking of Jesus as King. Thinking of Jesus that way bothers you. You like thinking of Jesus as a loving Priest that forgives you of your sins. You say I live under grace and the bible says that is all that is necessary. Grace alone! Grace Alone! Actually the Bible says repent and be saved. Read Mat_11:20-24 It will really rain on your day if you think you can live your life however you want and Jesus is going to say that’s okay you tried. And do you know why; because you didn’t try! It sounds to you like I’m saying works are required. You are going to hate this, if that is what you think. Grace is the Greek word charis (khar'-ece) guess what it means the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life. Did you catch that “and its reflection in the life” part. Yeah people should see that reflection of Jesus in your life. They see they by the way you serve Him.
God has forgiven us through grace and I want to come back to that, but first I want us to read a parable Jesus told in Luke 19. Luke tells us that Jesus told this parable because the disciples believed the Kingdom of God was about to appear. Jesus tells this parable to let them know that it was time for Him to begin His Earthly reign. If everyone one is there I’m going to start in Vs. 12
He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a]'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' 14"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' 15"He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16"The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'
17" 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'
18"The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.'
19"His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'
20"Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'
22"His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'
24"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'
25" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'
26"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 27But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."
Jesus is talking about ascending to heaven and returning at his second coming. At Judgement.
Look at Vs. 27But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."
Are you allowing Jesus to reign over you? This passage clearly shows us that we are to serve the Lord as King here on earth. The bible clearly teaches us this. And if you don’t want to accept the fact that you are a servant to King Jesus, you will hate heaven anyways, because the bible also shows us that Jesus will reign in a heavenly Kingdom and an Earthly Kingdom.
Jesus is my Lord and Savior
Now what about Jesus as savior. At night I like to watch old TV shows and one of my favorites is the Andy Griffith Show. A few weeks back the episode where Andy saved Gomer’s life was on. Andy sees that the service station is on fire and he runs in and pulls Gomer out. If you have never seen this episode just about every television show made up until reality shows ruined television had a show with a similar plot. So Andy saves Gomer’s life. Gomer is so thankful that he serves Andy in every way he can. He does so to the point he becomes annoying to Andy. If you truly understood what it means to call Jesus your savior then you should be that thankful. So thankful that your life revolves around trying to do everything you can to serve Jesus.
Think about this for a minute. God created man, man said I don’t need you and your authority. And thereby sentencing man to death. God decides to save man by.. now look at this… God who created man and owes us nothing decided to save us. He did this by coming to Earth as man. He came in the form of the Son of God… JESUS! Then he allowed His creation to beat Him, Spit on Him, Rip His beard out and then after making fun of Him nail him to a cross and leave Him hanging till he died. God who at any time could have called down a whole host of Angels to destroy us. Allowed us, His creation, to Kill Him. And in that death our sins were washed away. Now it gets even better. God, Jesus rises from the grave and ascends to Heaven so that we too can go to be with the father in Heaven. If God didn’t do this for us. If God didn’t save us in this way we would go to Hell. And all we have to do to accept this salvation is believe. That Jesus Christ is the son of God that came and died for our sins and then rose again. That’s it! Just believe and that doesn’t make you want to drop on your knees and cry out, thank you Lord Jesus! I give my life to You. All of me! I Live for you. My life is an offering to you Lord. Are you not that grateful that He saved you. And being saved did not end on that day on the cross. Jesus saved you that day and every day since he has been saving you by that divine influence on the heart, that reflects in ones life that divine influence that refines and makes pure. And we will be saved on that day of Judgment when we stand before God and Jesus says oh that one I paid his fine already.
Saved by grace. If you are saved you will feel that divine influence on your heart, that convicting of sin that helps to purify and give you the righteousness that only comes from Jesus Christ. James said Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. That’s because that divine influence in James reflects.
We are saved by grace, But when you look at what Jesus did for you. What that Grace cost Jesus. If that doesn’t make you want to serve and demonstrate that you serve Jesus, then you don’t truly understand what the one you are calling Lord and savior did for you.
I think I want to go a little deeper here Because I have been emphasizing the deity of Jesus. The fact that He was God. But to truly understand the cost of that forgiveness you have to see that Jesus was also fully man. Let’s look and see how human Jesus was.
Mark 11:12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
John 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
John 11:35 Jesus wept
Jesus hungered, thirsted, wept, and he was tempted by the devil. He felt sorrow at Gethesamne. Matthew 26:38 When Jesus was in the garden of gethsemane he prayed "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
When Jesus was nailed to that roman cross He felt the pain just as you and I would. When Jesus died for our sins. It was a horrible punishment for Him. He felt the humiliation, the emotional and physical hurts just as we would.
Yet even knowing what he was about to go through Jesus suffered for us. Why?
You are the Christ the son of the living God.
Because Jesus was the christ the son of the living God come to take away the sin of the world. What has become known as Peter's confession is that Jesus is the Christ the on of the living God. What does this mean though. What did it mean to Peter 2000 years ago as he stood next to Jesus saying these words. When Peter said you are the Christ he is acknowledging that Jesus is the annoited or the one sent by God The prophets had told the Jews that God was sending someone to come to them and take over and rule. These prophecies go as far back as Genesis 3. When Peter says the son of the living God Son is Peter saying I realize that you are fully human flesh and blood just like me , but I also realize that you are God the one true living God.
Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my father in heaven.
If your translation says Bar-Jonah that just means son of Jonah. Jesus called Peter that because He was acknowledging That Peter was born of man but Jesus was born of God. Now I want to look at what Jesus meant by his was not revealed to you by man. Have you ever thought about what Christians believe and how unbelievable it sounds to an unbeliever. This man Jesus who was fully God, but also fully man, was born of a virgin. He brought people back from the dead healed them then he was killed. three days later he rose. Visited a whole bunch of people then kind of floated up to heaven in their sight. He is coming back though with a sword in his mouth to take over. All of this was done so that we could go to heaven you know that place where the streets are made of gold. What we believe is pretty amazing and god has to prepare our hearts for that message. John says that God draws us. then as Peter did we have to confess who Christ is.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it.
In the verse before this one Jesus called Peter Simon. it's not unusual for God to change a mans name when he decides to use them.
Saul became Paul.
Abram became Abraham.
Jacob became Israel
The Greek meaning for Simon is a name. It comes from a old testament Hebrew name Simeon (The son of Jacob) which means hearing. But the meaning of Simon is just a name. Jesus renames Simon Peter here. Peter is a Greek word Petros (pet'-ros) which means a piece of rock, like a stone or boulder. The word rock in this verse is Petra it means a large slab of Rock. It is the same word that is used in look when talking about the wise builder who dug down deep and laid the foundation of his house on Rock (Petra). So I'm going to read this verse now with our new words and let's think about what it means that way. And I tell you that you are Petros, and on this Petra I will build my church. I tell you that you are just a small rock Simon, but on this solid rock I will build my church.
I go through all of that to demonstrate that while some denominations believe that Jesus was telling Peter that he was going to build the church on him that is incorrect. Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. The foundation which as any of the builders here today will tell you is the most important part is the fact that Jesus is the Christ. The one sent to take away the sins of man. Church (ekklēsia -ek-klay-see'-ah) simply means assembly. It's used in Acts to mean a riot. When Jesus says My Church He means a called out assembly of believers. It has nothing to do with a building or a denomination. it also does not mean everyone in the building. The church is the believers of the world and it is built on the fact and belief in that fact that Jesus is the Son of God come into the world to forgive man of sin through His death and resurrection.
And the Gates of Hell will not overcome it.
That is to say that the devil will never stop it. to fully understand this you must look at the persecution of the early church. Acts talks about a little of the persecution; Being thrown in jail, put in stocks, beaten. In 1563 a man named John Foxe printed an English translation of his book Acts and Monuments of These Later and Perilous Days. We know it as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Foxe took the historical accounts of the early persecution of the church and put them into a book. I'm Just going to tell you about the deaths of the apostles and despite theses horrible deaths the number of Christians grew daily.
Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Jude, Simon the Zealot = Crucified
James, Matthew, Matthias, Paul = Beheaded
Thomas = Speared
James = beaten and thrown from temple roof then had his head busted open with a tool used to beat cloth as he prayed for those who had beaten him.
And John before he was banished to the Isle of Patmos was dipped in a cauldron of boiling oil before being banished. history records he escaped this without injury.
Despite Satan doing his best to hold back the spread of Christianity. It grew to what we have today.
In conclusion I'm going to sum up what we have heard today. We come to our knowledge of Jesus surrounded by our sin. Our sin pulls us toward Hell, but Jesus reveals Himself to us. Then all we have to do is as Romans 10:9 says If we confess with our mouths that Jesus is lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, We will be saved. But by confessing that Jesus is Lord. We are saying that Jesus is King of our lives, that we will serve him in whatever way he calls us to serve him. Our Lives will reflect that Lordship Jesus has over us. Just as a subject of a king would bow down to their King we will bow down to Jesus. We realize that Jesus has no use for us if we don't want Him to reign over us. If we understand what being saved truly means and the extent and the cost of it we will be grateful for that saving grace. People will see that gratefulness we have to the Lord reflected in our lives. By believing in Jesus as the Christ the Son of the living God we become members of the Church and Satan will never take that away from us. If we live our lives as if Jesus is our King we will aid in the growing of that Kingdom Jesus' Church.
Update: here is the link for the audio
Mat 16:13-20 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Jesus has been with the disciples for a while now. They have seen Him perform many miracles. They have watched Him walk on water, calm the sea, heal people and cast out demons. They have listened to Him argue with the Pharisees and Sadducees. They have heard Him preach many lessons. They have been offered a chance to leave and they said “where would we go?” So now in chapter 16 of Matthew vs. 13 they are entering Caesarea Philippi.
Ceaseara Philippi is one of two towns in Judea named Caesarea. Caesarea Philippi was named by Herod the Tetrarch in honor of Augustus Caesar and the name Philippi is in owner of Herod's son Phillip the tetrarch who rebuilt and beautified the city. It was located at the southwest base of Mt. Hermon. Originally it was called Paneas for the god Pan. And at one point in its history it was a center for Baal worship.
Jesus and the disciples are standing in an area that has a long history of sin as Peter makes his confession. I think that's important because when Jesus calls us we are standing in an area (our life) that is filled with a history of sin. When we confess Jesus as our savior we are saying I'm here trapped in this sin save me from it.
And Jesus asks " Who do People say that the son of man is" Whom do men say that I the son of man am? Notice he calls Himself Son of Man. Jesus wants them to answer about the human side of Him. Jesus wants Peter to acknowledge what the crowds that follow them are saying about this man Jesus who is walking around preaching and performing amazing miracles. This man who is not afraid to challenge the religous establishment of the day.
Vs. 14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
Notice everyone they have suggested is someone who is dead or gone as in the case of Elijah. The crowds recognize there is something supernatural about Jesus. They may not realize that this is Immanuel (God with us) but they do know that this is not a regular man. In Mark's Gospel the authority that Jesus speaks with stands out. In Mark 1:22 they were amazed because he taught as one with authority and not as the teachers of the law. The Jews notice that Jesus doesn't speak as someone who has studied the law but as someone who knows God personally.
Some say John the Baptist. John the Baptist! John the Baptist had been beheaded a few months before. Look at what the man that ordered for John's head to be taken said about Jesus. Matthew 14:1-2
1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2and he said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
Herod believed Jesus was John the Baptist. He believed that somehow John had come back from the dead. Many others in the crowd of followers believed Jesus was John the Baptist.
Others say Elijah, Elijah was a powerful man. He was able to perform miracles and they knew that Malachi 4:5 had prophesied that Elijah would come back before the day of the Lord. So it made sense to many that this must be Elijah. Elijah never died and had went to be with God already. In Matthew 17 Jesus is talking to the disciples and they ask Him about Elijah coming first and Jesus tells them in Vs. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. Then they realize in Vs. 13 that John was the one that came in the spirit of Elijah. Peter actually witnessed Moses and Elijah carrying on a conversation with Jesus.
Still others Jeremiah. Wait! Jeremiah! Why Jeremiah? To truly understand why a Jewish man in Jesus's day would think of Jeremiah we have to read the same thing the Jewish people read. There is a series of books called the apocrypha. Apocrypha comes from a Greek word that means "those that have been hidden away". They are a series of writings that are not considered to belong in the canon of the bible. Martin Luther said the apocrypha was 'Useful historical writings”. He also believed that while these books were not inspired Christians should be familiar with them and at times they should even be read in services. The original King James of 1611 contained these books and so do many Catholic bibles today. In the apocryphical books of Maccabees we have some Jewish history and in those terrible times of the seculid kings we read about a revolt. In 2 Maccabees 2:4-7 we read about Jeremiah taking the ark of the Covenant and hiding it in a cave and 2Ma 2:4 It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of God.
2Ma 2:5 And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.
2Ma 2:6 And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it.
2Ma 2:7 Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy.
The Jewish people having heard this and the stories about it believed that Jesus was Jeremiah coming to bring the ark of God out of the cave.
Or one of the prophets.
Notice Peter didn't say a prophet. He said one of the prophets. In Luke's account of this event he even says "Or one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." (Luke 9:19)
They are now thinking of all the prophets and saying he could be this one or that one, but no one is saying hey maybe he is a new prophet, and definitely no one is suggesting that this is the Son of God
In every case the Jews believed that Jesus was someone that had risen from the dead. They believe that Jesus is someone who has been with God but they do not understand that this is God in Human flesh.
Vs. 15 Jesus looks at Peter "But What about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Who Do you say I am?
That is the most important question you will ever answer. Even if you don't believe in Jesus, on the day of judgement you will stand in front of Jesus and answer that question.
Think about that for a minute! Who do you say I am?
That is an important question for all of us to ask .Who do you say Jesus is? That is the question of a lifetime the answer either brings you eternal life or eternal damnation. Think about that the most important question you will ever answer and you will have to answer it someday is; Who do you say I am?
I have heard people say Jesus is a great teacher, but not God. The problem with this view is Jesus went around telling people that he was the son of God. If a man was walking around today and he appeared to be a genius and everyone was amazed at what a great teacher he was, but then this man started telling you well I'm just telling you this because I'm God. I'm the only way to heaven and oh yeah to get there you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. If Jesus was not God then he was a stark raving lunatic. Are you going to go to an asylum and expect to see a great teacher? NO! Are you going to call a crazy person a great teacher?
Many people believe he was a prophet, but not the savior. The problem with that is that God gave us through Moses a way to test the prophets. In Deutronomy 18 Moses says to see if a prophet was sent by God is to see if his prophecy comes true if it does God sent him. Jesus’s prophecy of dying and coming back to life was true. He also said that He was the one sent by God.
Who Do you Say I Am?
How many would answer that with, my Lord and Savior. That is how Peter summed it up. In 2 Peter, Peter refers to Jesus as our Lord and Savior 4 times. In that short letter that is how Peter sees Jesus, and that is how we should view Jesus. Our Lord and Savior. I want to take a minute and talk about these two words though. The word Lord is (koo'-ree-os) it means supreme in authority, controller and master. Basically Lord can be summed up King. King Jesus!
A King is ruler the supreme one in authority and a kings subjects would refer to him as Lord. When we say Jesus is our Lord we are saying that he is our King. A king has many responsibilities they are to keep invaders out and protect their subjects. They are to try and grow their Kingdom and maintain control of those that are subject to them. King Jesus does all these things
look at
· 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
o Jesus will not let sin invade us if we resist it.
· John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
o Jesus protects us.
· Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
o Jesus builds His kingdom.
· Hebrews 12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
o The Lord Disciplines those that are his
My question is how many of you that claim that Jesus is your Lord; live your life, as if He is your King. When you walked in this sanctuary this morning, Did you walk in with the same reverence you would if you were walking up to the throne of a King? Our King gave us a book that tells us what he expects of us! Did you follow the orders of your King this week. Did you even read the orders that your King gave you?
Maybe you don’t like thinking of Jesus as King. Thinking of Jesus that way bothers you. You like thinking of Jesus as a loving Priest that forgives you of your sins. You say I live under grace and the bible says that is all that is necessary. Grace alone! Grace Alone! Actually the Bible says repent and be saved. Read Mat_11:20-24 It will really rain on your day if you think you can live your life however you want and Jesus is going to say that’s okay you tried. And do you know why; because you didn’t try! It sounds to you like I’m saying works are required. You are going to hate this, if that is what you think. Grace is the Greek word charis (khar'-ece) guess what it means the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life. Did you catch that “and its reflection in the life” part. Yeah people should see that reflection of Jesus in your life. They see they by the way you serve Him.
God has forgiven us through grace and I want to come back to that, but first I want us to read a parable Jesus told in Luke 19. Luke tells us that Jesus told this parable because the disciples believed the Kingdom of God was about to appear. Jesus tells this parable to let them know that it was time for Him to begin His Earthly reign. If everyone one is there I’m going to start in Vs. 12
He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a]'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' 14"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' 15"He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16"The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'
17" 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'
18"The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.'
19"His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'
20"Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'
22"His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'
24"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'
25" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'
26"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 27But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."
Jesus is talking about ascending to heaven and returning at his second coming. At Judgement.
Look at Vs. 27But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."
Are you allowing Jesus to reign over you? This passage clearly shows us that we are to serve the Lord as King here on earth. The bible clearly teaches us this. And if you don’t want to accept the fact that you are a servant to King Jesus, you will hate heaven anyways, because the bible also shows us that Jesus will reign in a heavenly Kingdom and an Earthly Kingdom.
Jesus is my Lord and Savior
Now what about Jesus as savior. At night I like to watch old TV shows and one of my favorites is the Andy Griffith Show. A few weeks back the episode where Andy saved Gomer’s life was on. Andy sees that the service station is on fire and he runs in and pulls Gomer out. If you have never seen this episode just about every television show made up until reality shows ruined television had a show with a similar plot. So Andy saves Gomer’s life. Gomer is so thankful that he serves Andy in every way he can. He does so to the point he becomes annoying to Andy. If you truly understood what it means to call Jesus your savior then you should be that thankful. So thankful that your life revolves around trying to do everything you can to serve Jesus.
Think about this for a minute. God created man, man said I don’t need you and your authority. And thereby sentencing man to death. God decides to save man by.. now look at this… God who created man and owes us nothing decided to save us. He did this by coming to Earth as man. He came in the form of the Son of God… JESUS! Then he allowed His creation to beat Him, Spit on Him, Rip His beard out and then after making fun of Him nail him to a cross and leave Him hanging till he died. God who at any time could have called down a whole host of Angels to destroy us. Allowed us, His creation, to Kill Him. And in that death our sins were washed away. Now it gets even better. God, Jesus rises from the grave and ascends to Heaven so that we too can go to be with the father in Heaven. If God didn’t do this for us. If God didn’t save us in this way we would go to Hell. And all we have to do to accept this salvation is believe. That Jesus Christ is the son of God that came and died for our sins and then rose again. That’s it! Just believe and that doesn’t make you want to drop on your knees and cry out, thank you Lord Jesus! I give my life to You. All of me! I Live for you. My life is an offering to you Lord. Are you not that grateful that He saved you. And being saved did not end on that day on the cross. Jesus saved you that day and every day since he has been saving you by that divine influence on the heart, that reflects in ones life that divine influence that refines and makes pure. And we will be saved on that day of Judgment when we stand before God and Jesus says oh that one I paid his fine already.
Saved by grace. If you are saved you will feel that divine influence on your heart, that convicting of sin that helps to purify and give you the righteousness that only comes from Jesus Christ. James said Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. That’s because that divine influence in James reflects.
We are saved by grace, But when you look at what Jesus did for you. What that Grace cost Jesus. If that doesn’t make you want to serve and demonstrate that you serve Jesus, then you don’t truly understand what the one you are calling Lord and savior did for you.
I think I want to go a little deeper here Because I have been emphasizing the deity of Jesus. The fact that He was God. But to truly understand the cost of that forgiveness you have to see that Jesus was also fully man. Let’s look and see how human Jesus was.
Mark 11:12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
John 19:28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
John 11:35 Jesus wept
Jesus hungered, thirsted, wept, and he was tempted by the devil. He felt sorrow at Gethesamne. Matthew 26:38 When Jesus was in the garden of gethsemane he prayed "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
When Jesus was nailed to that roman cross He felt the pain just as you and I would. When Jesus died for our sins. It was a horrible punishment for Him. He felt the humiliation, the emotional and physical hurts just as we would.
Yet even knowing what he was about to go through Jesus suffered for us. Why?
You are the Christ the son of the living God.
Because Jesus was the christ the son of the living God come to take away the sin of the world. What has become known as Peter's confession is that Jesus is the Christ the on of the living God. What does this mean though. What did it mean to Peter 2000 years ago as he stood next to Jesus saying these words. When Peter said you are the Christ he is acknowledging that Jesus is the annoited or the one sent by God The prophets had told the Jews that God was sending someone to come to them and take over and rule. These prophecies go as far back as Genesis 3. When Peter says the son of the living God Son is Peter saying I realize that you are fully human flesh and blood just like me , but I also realize that you are God the one true living God.
Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my father in heaven.
If your translation says Bar-Jonah that just means son of Jonah. Jesus called Peter that because He was acknowledging That Peter was born of man but Jesus was born of God. Now I want to look at what Jesus meant by his was not revealed to you by man. Have you ever thought about what Christians believe and how unbelievable it sounds to an unbeliever. This man Jesus who was fully God, but also fully man, was born of a virgin. He brought people back from the dead healed them then he was killed. three days later he rose. Visited a whole bunch of people then kind of floated up to heaven in their sight. He is coming back though with a sword in his mouth to take over. All of this was done so that we could go to heaven you know that place where the streets are made of gold. What we believe is pretty amazing and god has to prepare our hearts for that message. John says that God draws us. then as Peter did we have to confess who Christ is.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it.
In the verse before this one Jesus called Peter Simon. it's not unusual for God to change a mans name when he decides to use them.
Saul became Paul.
Abram became Abraham.
Jacob became Israel
The Greek meaning for Simon is a name. It comes from a old testament Hebrew name Simeon (The son of Jacob) which means hearing. But the meaning of Simon is just a name. Jesus renames Simon Peter here. Peter is a Greek word Petros (pet'-ros) which means a piece of rock, like a stone or boulder. The word rock in this verse is Petra it means a large slab of Rock. It is the same word that is used in look when talking about the wise builder who dug down deep and laid the foundation of his house on Rock (Petra). So I'm going to read this verse now with our new words and let's think about what it means that way. And I tell you that you are Petros, and on this Petra I will build my church. I tell you that you are just a small rock Simon, but on this solid rock I will build my church.
I go through all of that to demonstrate that while some denominations believe that Jesus was telling Peter that he was going to build the church on him that is incorrect. Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. The foundation which as any of the builders here today will tell you is the most important part is the fact that Jesus is the Christ. The one sent to take away the sins of man. Church (ekklēsia -ek-klay-see'-ah) simply means assembly. It's used in Acts to mean a riot. When Jesus says My Church He means a called out assembly of believers. It has nothing to do with a building or a denomination. it also does not mean everyone in the building. The church is the believers of the world and it is built on the fact and belief in that fact that Jesus is the Son of God come into the world to forgive man of sin through His death and resurrection.
And the Gates of Hell will not overcome it.
That is to say that the devil will never stop it. to fully understand this you must look at the persecution of the early church. Acts talks about a little of the persecution; Being thrown in jail, put in stocks, beaten. In 1563 a man named John Foxe printed an English translation of his book Acts and Monuments of These Later and Perilous Days. We know it as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Foxe took the historical accounts of the early persecution of the church and put them into a book. I'm Just going to tell you about the deaths of the apostles and despite theses horrible deaths the number of Christians grew daily.
Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Jude, Simon the Zealot = Crucified
James, Matthew, Matthias, Paul = Beheaded
Thomas = Speared
James = beaten and thrown from temple roof then had his head busted open with a tool used to beat cloth as he prayed for those who had beaten him.
And John before he was banished to the Isle of Patmos was dipped in a cauldron of boiling oil before being banished. history records he escaped this without injury.
Despite Satan doing his best to hold back the spread of Christianity. It grew to what we have today.
In conclusion I'm going to sum up what we have heard today. We come to our knowledge of Jesus surrounded by our sin. Our sin pulls us toward Hell, but Jesus reveals Himself to us. Then all we have to do is as Romans 10:9 says If we confess with our mouths that Jesus is lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, We will be saved. But by confessing that Jesus is Lord. We are saying that Jesus is King of our lives, that we will serve him in whatever way he calls us to serve him. Our Lives will reflect that Lordship Jesus has over us. Just as a subject of a king would bow down to their King we will bow down to Jesus. We realize that Jesus has no use for us if we don't want Him to reign over us. If we understand what being saved truly means and the extent and the cost of it we will be grateful for that saving grace. People will see that gratefulness we have to the Lord reflected in our lives. By believing in Jesus as the Christ the Son of the living God we become members of the Church and Satan will never take that away from us. If we live our lives as if Jesus is our King we will aid in the growing of that Kingdom Jesus' Church.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
By Any Other Name
I preached my second sermon this morning. I included the manuscript I wrote out to practice it with but it isn't exactly word for word. Here is the link.
Good morning! I’m going to start this morning in Hebrews chapter 3 then we will visit Numbers 20, Genesis 3 and stop in Romans 7.So if everyone is in Hebrews 3 we will start at verse 7 and go to 19
Hebrews 3:7-19 (New International Version)
Warning Against Unbelief
7So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
9where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
10That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.'
11So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "[a]
12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."[b]
16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed[c]? 19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
.
I want to focus on three things that are said in this section of scripture.
Vs. 8 8do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,
Vs. 11 11So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "
And Vs. 13 so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
First I want to point out that this is addressed to Christians verse 1 of this chapter says therefore Holy brothers and sisters, so the author is talking to fellow Christians. Let’s go back to verse 8 where the writer tells us that the Holy Spirit says; “do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Notice that; “do not harden your hearts.” It is an act of our will to harden our hearts. In Exodus we see the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart referred to in two ways.
The Lord said I will harden his heart. (Exodus 4:21) and
Pharoah hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15)
The hardening of our hearts is not something God does so we will be like little robots. God Hardening Pharaoh’s heart is just God allowing Pharaoh to do what is already in his heart. The hardening of our hearts is something we do. We choose to soften our hearts or harden them sometimes God arranges events to help ge our hearts where He wants them, but just as pharaoh’s pride forced him to harden his heart we let circumstances harden or soften our hearts.
So we are told not to harden our hearts as they did in the rebellion. I want to first address the broad way the author of Hebrews is approaching this scripture and then I’m going to tighten it up a little and look at the narrow way of looking at verse 8. The author is talking about how God did not allow the Israelites into the Promised Land because of their unbelief. God has saved and delivered them. That is important to see. The Israelites have already been saved. As I pointed out earlier the author of Hebrews was talking about Christians and here we have the saved Israelites, kinda of like the Old testament version of Christians.So they have been saved and delivered but the Promised Land that they were to be given is not going to be theirs during their lifetime because they doubt. They did not believe that God was truly going to take care of them. Numbers 13 tells of the spies being sent into the Promised Land and they come back talking about the military strength and the fortifications of the cities and then they compare their selves to Grasshoppers amongst these people who were giants. These spies say “we can’t do this. We can’t do this. “
And they are right. They are right, they can’t do it. But God can. These people have already seen the miracles of the plagues. God not only delivered them but made them rich when the Egyptians paid them to leave. They saw the Red Sea split open. Think about that miracle by itself. Any one ever drained a pond and immediately walked in it afterwards. You sink to your knees in the mud but the Israelites had the sea split and crossed on dry ground. Then God allowed the waters to overtake the Egyptians. Just imagine seeing this and then to doubt God. They have survived battles, by armies much stronger and more well trained .They have had bitter water turned sweet, seen manna fall from the sky. God has taken care of these people but when He says “Go and take your reward” they say “We can’t.” Caleb and Joshua were the only two that didn’t harden their hearts and they were the only ones that got to see their reward on this side of heaven.
All the others let unbelief harden their hearts. Think about that they were saved but because sin hardened their hearts they did not get an earthly reward. I’m not saying that Caleb and Joshua didn’t suffer they went through the exact same things as all the other Israelites but to them it wasn’t as bad because they knew that God was carrying them and they got to see the reward of their belief that God would conquer the promised land
Now to the narrow look into this scripture "Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."[
This comes from Psalm 95 and in Psalm 95 it refers to the wilderness as Meribah and Massah. The events at Meribah and Massah are recorded in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20. they refer to Moses getting water from the Rock at Meribah. Now God instructs Moses to talk to the rock and strike it once. Let’s look at Numbers 20:10-13
He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
Moses in his anger at the unbelief of the Israelites hardened his heart and did not honor God as Holy. Because of that Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land in his lifetime. Do you see a pattern? The hardening of our hearts to sin stops us from receiving the reward that God has in store for us. Now a reward might be the blessing in getting to see someone we know come to Christ. One of the hardest things I have had to endure was seeing someone I care about hate me for being honest about what the bible says. But I endured I stayed focused on Jesus and what he wanted and the greatest reward was seeing that person start going to church regularly. If we follow Jesus and do not let our hearts be hardened by sins deceitfulness we will get to see the reward of our efforts.
Lets go back to Hebrews 3. Verses 12 and 13 12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Moses heart was hardened by the disbelief of those around him and that lead to his sin.
Let’s look at two other people who allowed sins deceitfulness to harden their hearts.
Lets back up to Adam and Eve
Genesis 3 is the infamous chapter called the fall. Let’s look at what happened though.3:1-6 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. Notice we are told here that the serpent was crafty or we could say deceitful. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Notice what he just did he misquoted what God had said in an effort to cause confusion and doubt.
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The beauty of the sinful fruit hardened the heart of Eve. Think about that the allure of sin hardened Eve’s Heart . Satan changed sin from something that kills and destroys to something desirable.
And she gave some to her husband.
Adam loved Eve and in his love for a woman Adam disobeyed God
The love of a woman hardened Adam’s heart.
Disbelief of those around hardened moses’ heart
Beauty hardened Eve’s heart.
Love Hardened Adam’s heart.
, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So what Hardens our hearts and how does sin deceive us.
Last summer I caught a Garter Snake in the yard. Dustin and I played with it for a while a Savannah took a picture of us holding it. I put the picture on my screensaver at work. A woman I work with walked up and looked at it with disgust asking what is that. I said my son!
She replied No, not the boy. I said oh, That would be me.
I have been married long enough that I have learned that when a woman is holding sharp objects and gets that insane look in her eyes its time for the jokes to stop so I told it was a Garter snake.
What
A Garter snake.
A Snake.
Well yes but it’s a Garter snake. I try to inform this woman that it lived under our house and eats mice therefore it was friend of mine.
A Snake.
A garter snake.
A Snake.
I then tried to inform her that Garter snakes are harmless and can’t hurt you.
She asked does it bite. I said well yes but I didn’t give it the opportunity and even if it did it’s not poisonous so it wouldn’t have been a big deal had it bitten me.
A Snake.
A garter snake.
She then walked off shaking her head and mumbling something about poor poor Amy.
So I was trying to give the snake a fancy name to make it less harmful sounding to her. To make her hardened to the fear the snake caused
And sometimes we treat sin like that and by making sin less harmful sounding we allow our hearts to be hardened by sins deceitfulness.
I’ve got some examples I’d like to share this morning.
Murder
We don’t call it murder in the news because that would give a negative tone to it and would lead a jury to be more likely to convict. It’s Homicide or manslaughter. If I say murder you get an image of brutality and violence in your mind. but if I say homocide it’s not as bad it’s less horrific sounding. Homicide that doesn’t paint as vivid a picture in your head does it.
What about the Murder of an unborn child.
How many people had the word abortion pop in their head as I said that. The murder of an unborn child and we put an innocent sounding name on it like abortion. That doesn’t sound so bad does it. Abortion to stop a process the problem is this is the process of Life that God started we are stopping.
What about Pro Choice. Choices that sounds really nice doesn’t it. By putting a positive word at the beginning we are creating a word that doesn’t create negativity in our minds or our hearts.
What about family planning. That sounds really nice. I can see little kids and a dog named boo. But no that is the murder of an unborn child. Family planning is not killing babies family planning is waiting until your married to have sex as God has Commanded us to do.
The unnatural lust for someone of the same sex. What do we call it homosexuality give it a nice scientific name and it isn’t so bad. Kind of sterilizes it doesn’t it?
Alternative lifestyle. Isn’t that what the Amish have. An alternative lifestyle is living without electricity and traveling by horse and buggy .Having sex in a way that the bible calls an abomination just because a woman named Ellen says it’s okay is not an alternative lifestyle. It is a sin.
Pornography what do we call it Adult entertainment. Adult entertainment That doesn’t sound so bad. Go to Memphis or Nashville and you find Gentleman’s Clubs. Gentleman’s clubs that sounds like a respectable place. A Gentleman is a good thing. Pornography is not entertainment. Matthew 5:28 tells us that to look at a woman lustfully is to commit adultery. Think about that every pornographic image you have looked at is the same in God’s eyes as you committing adultery against your spouse. Pornography is a sin, and it destroys families, marriages and self esteem. It is not entertainment.
Adultery what pleasant terms can we come up with for breaking a marriage covenant. Infidelity, affair, Cheating. Cheating is what you do in the seventh grade when you peek over the shoulder of the guy in front of you to see his answers on a test. Telling your spouse that the covenat that you and her made before God does not matter. That its something as innocent as cheating at aboard game. Think about that when you commit adultery you are telling your spouse and God that what you want is more important than they are.
, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Okay but what does this have to do with me. A Christian living under grace and sanctified by the blood of Christ. Forgiven of all sins past, present and future by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Maybe you are thinking I haven’t done any of those things anyways, So this doesn’t apply to me.
Yeah, I use the political correct terms of the day so I want offend but that doesn’t cause me to sin.
What does it matter if I use more sensitive language when I talk about these subjects? If I don’t use sensitive language, sinners want listen to me when I try and tell them about Jesus. None of this is causing me to sin. My heart isn’t hardened.
The problem isn’t in using these words in conversing with people the problem is believing these words that harden our hearts.
How many have referred to a friend committing adultery as just having an affair?
You don’t believe you have allowed the deceitfulness of sin to harden your heart! How many while talking to someone who is having marriage difficulties have thought well maybe they shouldn’t be together! Maybe they shouldn’t be together. That is why the divorce rate among Christians is just as high as among none Christians. Because sin has hardened our heart.
Think about what you are truly saying, God I don’t think this couple should honor the contract they made before you They just don’t seem to be able to live up to their part. You know what though lucky for us God doesn’t decide to give up on the contract he gave lost sinners just because we can’t live up to our part of the contract. We all would be in a mess then.
When we become scared to call sin what it is because we may offend someone we have allowed sin to harden our hearts and that leads to us disobeying God.
Christians wrestle with sin that what makes God’s mercy so amazing is even though He knows we will still sin He forgives us.
Look at Romans 7 Paul is telling us that the law is there so we will know sin and notice how Paul wrestles with sin in v1515I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Look at that What I hate I do. That is a man on his knees in conviction of his sin.
16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. Now he is saying God you are right this is a sin 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Lord I can’t do this. That is a sinner begging for God’s grace and help19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. That is what a sinner on his knees sounds like!
Why is God allowing Paul to suffer and wrestle with sin. Why does God allow us to suffer and wrestle with sin.
Being saved requires repentance. Repentance is the changing of one’s way of thinking. So to repent of sin is to realize that I am committing sin and to realize that Jesus died for that sin so that I could have eternal life with the father. Jesus refers to the Holy spirit as the helper, and counselor. So how does the Holy Spirit help me or counsel me.
When I sin the Holy Spirit will convict me. Ephesians 4 gives us instructions for Christian living v 30 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. This grieving is conviction it is the feeling in our heart of knowing that we have done wrong. So what do we do with this feeling we pray, Just as David cried out to God in Psalm 51 We should admit against you God have I sinned. Our forgiveness is there but we still have our old nature to show us we are dependant upon God.
But when we change the name of sin so that we are not convicted when we change the name of sin so that others are not convicted we are telling God that we do not need Him and His definition of sin. We are telling God what sin is and not listening to him so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness..
Earlier I said I told the woman that even if the Garter snake had bitten me it wouldn’t hurt me. I got to thinking about that I had a friend get bitten by a boa constrictor and a fang broke off in his hand. The bite got infected and hurt him for several days just as what seems like a small private sin can grow and hurt us if we don’t call it what it is.
We must recognize sin for what it is. It is disobeying God, and changing the name of it so that we won’t be convicted is not honoring God as Holy. Remember Moses he did not get to see the promised land because he did not honor God as holy. Jesus died on a cross for you and I. He bled so that I could be washed in that blood. It was Jesus that saved me. And I can turn back and live in sin and I can change the name of it so I won’t be convicted but I will never enter God’s rest in my lifetime. Or I can thank Jesus for what he did it can drink of his living water. I can call out to Him I am a sinner Lord help me. And I will get to know what it is like to have Jesus take my burden on Him. How many have had some kind of stress in their life this week. Jesus said hey I want to take that from you rely on me, live for me. You’ll still go through the wilderness like Caleb and Joshua did but the whole time you will know that you Jesus is carrying you. By not allowing our heart to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, I will no what it’s like to live for Christ. I will get to see the rewards of living for Him. I’ll get to hear that child come to know him I get to see that friend fall to their knee’s in repentance I’ll get to hear that elderly gentleman call out to Jesus with his dying breathe. I will always have that presence around me letting me know that no Scott can’t do this But I can, God can, Jesus can. All you have to do is today "Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." and do not let the deceitfulness of sin harden your heart.
ce."
Good morning! I’m going to start this morning in Hebrews chapter 3 then we will visit Numbers 20, Genesis 3 and stop in Romans 7.So if everyone is in Hebrews 3 we will start at verse 7 and go to 19
Hebrews 3:7-19 (New International Version)
Warning Against Unbelief
7So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
9where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
10That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.'
11So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "[a]
12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."[b]
16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed[c]? 19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
.
I want to focus on three things that are said in this section of scripture.
Vs. 8 8do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,
Vs. 11 11So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "
And Vs. 13 so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
First I want to point out that this is addressed to Christians verse 1 of this chapter says therefore Holy brothers and sisters, so the author is talking to fellow Christians. Let’s go back to verse 8 where the writer tells us that the Holy Spirit says; “do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Notice that; “do not harden your hearts.” It is an act of our will to harden our hearts. In Exodus we see the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart referred to in two ways.
The Lord said I will harden his heart. (Exodus 4:21) and
Pharoah hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15)
The hardening of our hearts is not something God does so we will be like little robots. God Hardening Pharaoh’s heart is just God allowing Pharaoh to do what is already in his heart. The hardening of our hearts is something we do. We choose to soften our hearts or harden them sometimes God arranges events to help ge our hearts where He wants them, but just as pharaoh’s pride forced him to harden his heart we let circumstances harden or soften our hearts.
So we are told not to harden our hearts as they did in the rebellion. I want to first address the broad way the author of Hebrews is approaching this scripture and then I’m going to tighten it up a little and look at the narrow way of looking at verse 8. The author is talking about how God did not allow the Israelites into the Promised Land because of their unbelief. God has saved and delivered them. That is important to see. The Israelites have already been saved. As I pointed out earlier the author of Hebrews was talking about Christians and here we have the saved Israelites, kinda of like the Old testament version of Christians.So they have been saved and delivered but the Promised Land that they were to be given is not going to be theirs during their lifetime because they doubt. They did not believe that God was truly going to take care of them. Numbers 13 tells of the spies being sent into the Promised Land and they come back talking about the military strength and the fortifications of the cities and then they compare their selves to Grasshoppers amongst these people who were giants. These spies say “we can’t do this. We can’t do this. “
And they are right. They are right, they can’t do it. But God can. These people have already seen the miracles of the plagues. God not only delivered them but made them rich when the Egyptians paid them to leave. They saw the Red Sea split open. Think about that miracle by itself. Any one ever drained a pond and immediately walked in it afterwards. You sink to your knees in the mud but the Israelites had the sea split and crossed on dry ground. Then God allowed the waters to overtake the Egyptians. Just imagine seeing this and then to doubt God. They have survived battles, by armies much stronger and more well trained .They have had bitter water turned sweet, seen manna fall from the sky. God has taken care of these people but when He says “Go and take your reward” they say “We can’t.” Caleb and Joshua were the only two that didn’t harden their hearts and they were the only ones that got to see their reward on this side of heaven.
All the others let unbelief harden their hearts. Think about that they were saved but because sin hardened their hearts they did not get an earthly reward. I’m not saying that Caleb and Joshua didn’t suffer they went through the exact same things as all the other Israelites but to them it wasn’t as bad because they knew that God was carrying them and they got to see the reward of their belief that God would conquer the promised land
Now to the narrow look into this scripture "Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."[
This comes from Psalm 95 and in Psalm 95 it refers to the wilderness as Meribah and Massah. The events at Meribah and Massah are recorded in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20. they refer to Moses getting water from the Rock at Meribah. Now God instructs Moses to talk to the rock and strike it once. Let’s look at Numbers 20:10-13
He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
Moses in his anger at the unbelief of the Israelites hardened his heart and did not honor God as Holy. Because of that Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land in his lifetime. Do you see a pattern? The hardening of our hearts to sin stops us from receiving the reward that God has in store for us. Now a reward might be the blessing in getting to see someone we know come to Christ. One of the hardest things I have had to endure was seeing someone I care about hate me for being honest about what the bible says. But I endured I stayed focused on Jesus and what he wanted and the greatest reward was seeing that person start going to church regularly. If we follow Jesus and do not let our hearts be hardened by sins deceitfulness we will get to see the reward of our efforts.
Lets go back to Hebrews 3. Verses 12 and 13 12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Moses heart was hardened by the disbelief of those around him and that lead to his sin.
Let’s look at two other people who allowed sins deceitfulness to harden their hearts.
Lets back up to Adam and Eve
Genesis 3 is the infamous chapter called the fall. Let’s look at what happened though.3:1-6 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. Notice we are told here that the serpent was crafty or we could say deceitful. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Notice what he just did he misquoted what God had said in an effort to cause confusion and doubt.
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The beauty of the sinful fruit hardened the heart of Eve. Think about that the allure of sin hardened Eve’s Heart . Satan changed sin from something that kills and destroys to something desirable.
And she gave some to her husband.
Adam loved Eve and in his love for a woman Adam disobeyed God
The love of a woman hardened Adam’s heart.
Disbelief of those around hardened moses’ heart
Beauty hardened Eve’s heart.
Love Hardened Adam’s heart.
, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So what Hardens our hearts and how does sin deceive us.
Last summer I caught a Garter Snake in the yard. Dustin and I played with it for a while a Savannah took a picture of us holding it. I put the picture on my screensaver at work. A woman I work with walked up and looked at it with disgust asking what is that. I said my son!
She replied No, not the boy. I said oh, That would be me.
I have been married long enough that I have learned that when a woman is holding sharp objects and gets that insane look in her eyes its time for the jokes to stop so I told it was a Garter snake.
What
A Garter snake.
A Snake.
Well yes but it’s a Garter snake. I try to inform this woman that it lived under our house and eats mice therefore it was friend of mine.
A Snake.
A garter snake.
A Snake.
I then tried to inform her that Garter snakes are harmless and can’t hurt you.
She asked does it bite. I said well yes but I didn’t give it the opportunity and even if it did it’s not poisonous so it wouldn’t have been a big deal had it bitten me.
A Snake.
A garter snake.
She then walked off shaking her head and mumbling something about poor poor Amy.
So I was trying to give the snake a fancy name to make it less harmful sounding to her. To make her hardened to the fear the snake caused
And sometimes we treat sin like that and by making sin less harmful sounding we allow our hearts to be hardened by sins deceitfulness.
I’ve got some examples I’d like to share this morning.
Murder
We don’t call it murder in the news because that would give a negative tone to it and would lead a jury to be more likely to convict. It’s Homicide or manslaughter. If I say murder you get an image of brutality and violence in your mind. but if I say homocide it’s not as bad it’s less horrific sounding. Homicide that doesn’t paint as vivid a picture in your head does it.
What about the Murder of an unborn child.
How many people had the word abortion pop in their head as I said that. The murder of an unborn child and we put an innocent sounding name on it like abortion. That doesn’t sound so bad does it. Abortion to stop a process the problem is this is the process of Life that God started we are stopping.
What about Pro Choice. Choices that sounds really nice doesn’t it. By putting a positive word at the beginning we are creating a word that doesn’t create negativity in our minds or our hearts.
What about family planning. That sounds really nice. I can see little kids and a dog named boo. But no that is the murder of an unborn child. Family planning is not killing babies family planning is waiting until your married to have sex as God has Commanded us to do.
The unnatural lust for someone of the same sex. What do we call it homosexuality give it a nice scientific name and it isn’t so bad. Kind of sterilizes it doesn’t it?
Alternative lifestyle. Isn’t that what the Amish have. An alternative lifestyle is living without electricity and traveling by horse and buggy .Having sex in a way that the bible calls an abomination just because a woman named Ellen says it’s okay is not an alternative lifestyle. It is a sin.
Pornography what do we call it Adult entertainment. Adult entertainment That doesn’t sound so bad. Go to Memphis or Nashville and you find Gentleman’s Clubs. Gentleman’s clubs that sounds like a respectable place. A Gentleman is a good thing. Pornography is not entertainment. Matthew 5:28 tells us that to look at a woman lustfully is to commit adultery. Think about that every pornographic image you have looked at is the same in God’s eyes as you committing adultery against your spouse. Pornography is a sin, and it destroys families, marriages and self esteem. It is not entertainment.
Adultery what pleasant terms can we come up with for breaking a marriage covenant. Infidelity, affair, Cheating. Cheating is what you do in the seventh grade when you peek over the shoulder of the guy in front of you to see his answers on a test. Telling your spouse that the covenat that you and her made before God does not matter. That its something as innocent as cheating at aboard game. Think about that when you commit adultery you are telling your spouse and God that what you want is more important than they are.
, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Okay but what does this have to do with me. A Christian living under grace and sanctified by the blood of Christ. Forgiven of all sins past, present and future by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. Maybe you are thinking I haven’t done any of those things anyways, So this doesn’t apply to me.
Yeah, I use the political correct terms of the day so I want offend but that doesn’t cause me to sin.
What does it matter if I use more sensitive language when I talk about these subjects? If I don’t use sensitive language, sinners want listen to me when I try and tell them about Jesus. None of this is causing me to sin. My heart isn’t hardened.
The problem isn’t in using these words in conversing with people the problem is believing these words that harden our hearts.
How many have referred to a friend committing adultery as just having an affair?
You don’t believe you have allowed the deceitfulness of sin to harden your heart! How many while talking to someone who is having marriage difficulties have thought well maybe they shouldn’t be together! Maybe they shouldn’t be together. That is why the divorce rate among Christians is just as high as among none Christians. Because sin has hardened our heart.
Think about what you are truly saying, God I don’t think this couple should honor the contract they made before you They just don’t seem to be able to live up to their part. You know what though lucky for us God doesn’t decide to give up on the contract he gave lost sinners just because we can’t live up to our part of the contract. We all would be in a mess then.
When we become scared to call sin what it is because we may offend someone we have allowed sin to harden our hearts and that leads to us disobeying God.
Christians wrestle with sin that what makes God’s mercy so amazing is even though He knows we will still sin He forgives us.
Look at Romans 7 Paul is telling us that the law is there so we will know sin and notice how Paul wrestles with sin in v1515I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Look at that What I hate I do. That is a man on his knees in conviction of his sin.
16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. Now he is saying God you are right this is a sin 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Lord I can’t do this. That is a sinner begging for God’s grace and help19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. That is what a sinner on his knees sounds like!
Why is God allowing Paul to suffer and wrestle with sin. Why does God allow us to suffer and wrestle with sin.
Being saved requires repentance. Repentance is the changing of one’s way of thinking. So to repent of sin is to realize that I am committing sin and to realize that Jesus died for that sin so that I could have eternal life with the father. Jesus refers to the Holy spirit as the helper, and counselor. So how does the Holy Spirit help me or counsel me.
When I sin the Holy Spirit will convict me. Ephesians 4 gives us instructions for Christian living v 30 tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. This grieving is conviction it is the feeling in our heart of knowing that we have done wrong. So what do we do with this feeling we pray, Just as David cried out to God in Psalm 51 We should admit against you God have I sinned. Our forgiveness is there but we still have our old nature to show us we are dependant upon God.
But when we change the name of sin so that we are not convicted when we change the name of sin so that others are not convicted we are telling God that we do not need Him and His definition of sin. We are telling God what sin is and not listening to him so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness..
Earlier I said I told the woman that even if the Garter snake had bitten me it wouldn’t hurt me. I got to thinking about that I had a friend get bitten by a boa constrictor and a fang broke off in his hand. The bite got infected and hurt him for several days just as what seems like a small private sin can grow and hurt us if we don’t call it what it is.
We must recognize sin for what it is. It is disobeying God, and changing the name of it so that we won’t be convicted is not honoring God as Holy. Remember Moses he did not get to see the promised land because he did not honor God as holy. Jesus died on a cross for you and I. He bled so that I could be washed in that blood. It was Jesus that saved me. And I can turn back and live in sin and I can change the name of it so I won’t be convicted but I will never enter God’s rest in my lifetime. Or I can thank Jesus for what he did it can drink of his living water. I can call out to Him I am a sinner Lord help me. And I will get to know what it is like to have Jesus take my burden on Him. How many have had some kind of stress in their life this week. Jesus said hey I want to take that from you rely on me, live for me. You’ll still go through the wilderness like Caleb and Joshua did but the whole time you will know that you Jesus is carrying you. By not allowing our heart to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, I will no what it’s like to live for Christ. I will get to see the rewards of living for Him. I’ll get to hear that child come to know him I get to see that friend fall to their knee’s in repentance I’ll get to hear that elderly gentleman call out to Jesus with his dying breathe. I will always have that presence around me letting me know that no Scott can’t do this But I can, God can, Jesus can. All you have to do is today "Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." and do not let the deceitfulness of sin harden your heart.
ce."
Monday, May 18, 2009
My First Sermon
I preached my first sermon on Sunday morning. It was unexpected since I received a call at about 8:45 that morning to see if I could do it. It's from John 14:1-7 with the Scripture reading pertaining to the first part of the sermon . The scripture reading was from Matthew 7:13-23
Click here to hear it. I would love to hear some opinions on it.
Click here to hear it. I would love to hear some opinions on it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
