Who Do You Say I AM
Notes
Transcript
I. Introduction –
A. I would like to thank all of you that sent cards, encouraged my family and prayed for us after the passing of my father. For those of you that do not know me I am Todd Erickson an elder here at PVCC. Charles asked me to fill in today with something that challenges us.
B. Most people have done New Years Resolutions and these last for days, weeks, months, or maybe you are like me and they never get started. Today I am not going to ask you to set a New Years Resolution, I want to challenge you to decide to change your life style.
PRAYER *****************
C. American Christians and churches are falling to a theological progressivsim - these people and churches are forgoing the final authority of scripture in exchange for a definition of Jesus in terms of inclusiveness, self actualization, identity politics, and viewing the bible as one source for Christian faith. They feel sociology, psychology, recent theories on justice, and sentimentality are better sources than the Bible. They think that man has progressed beyond the bible, beyond Jesus as our savior therefore the atonement is not needed because God is all inclusive, H is love, therefore all are saved
i. As Christians we need to focus on the final authority of scripture and dig in our heels. Matthew 16:15–18“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
ii. The church is built on Jesus as the corner stone, not on sociology, psychology, or any of the social constructs that out society is pushing today. The truth is not what we believe it to be, the truth cannot be denied, and John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” and by the way coming to the Father means getting into heaven.
iii. How do we stay in the truth, what is God’s will for our lives? His first and foremost will is spelled out in the summation of the Commandments Matthew 22:37–39“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Today I want to challenge you to make these commands a part of the foundation or our faith in Christ Jesus, so lets break them down further
II. Love the Lord Your God
A. James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Our life needs to be spent building our love toward God
B. We show love through a relationship
i. The Greeks have several words for love, these three are the types of love we should have in the development of our relationship to God and man
1. Philia - authentic friendship BFFs, those friends we can share everything with
2. Storge - Familial love Parent-Child, Child-Parent, siblings
3. Agape - unconditional love – not matter what happens, our love never changes
ii. You cannot develop love without knowing God – like a marriage our relationship with God requires spending time together ( I cannot go a day without Sallie, whether that is taking on the phone or preferably in person)- with God that is done by speakingto Him which is through prayer, but also listening to Him, there are several ways God speaks to us
1. God’s word
2. TGodly men and women
3. Dreams
4. Bringing thoughts into our minds
5. Talking with us
6. But it all begins with prayerful reading of His word and listening Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
C. Finally another way to show our love is through obedience
i. Baptism - is the first act of obedience. we chose to believe and have faith, we chose to repent and confess that He is Lord, then we are baptized out of obedience to his word
ii. Jesus who was God in the flesh, obeyed His father by being baptized, by His ministry and Luke 22:42“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Jesus did was needed to fulfill the prophecies about Him in the Old Testament, in doing so He was obedient to God the Father
iii. John 14:21 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Obedience is a large aspect of showing respect to God, which is a manifestation of our love for Him
III. Love your neighbor
A. Who is your neighbor
i. Family/friends
ii. Christian brothers and sisters
iii. Enemies
iv. All people
B. We show our neighbors love
i. Through a relationship first – we show them we care and that allows us to have the right to speak about God. This can be brief, like those we meet on the street so to speak, or it can take time, family, coworkers and those that live next door to us
ii. We love them through ministry 1 Corinthians 12:24–31 “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”
iii. By being close to God, He will help us to see where he is working around us and what the needs are then God will give us the gifts we need to do His work.
1. God gives some people spiritual gifts at birth. Kitty Allen and my father Jim were had the gift of evangelism, they never knew a stranger and never left an encounter without mentioning Jesus. Our gift may not be what is needed for the particular situation, We were not all born with the gift of evangelism, but we are all called to evangelize, the Holy Spirit gives us the ability upon need. But like the Apostles, we will be sent to do a ministry that we do not feel prepared for, yet Christ will give us the gift Luke 9:1–2 “And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” The gift may not be healing, but it is always to proclaim the kingdom of God
2. God will give us everything we need, but we need to do our part, as the Apostles. If we read and study His word, the Holy Spirit will bring it out when we need to use it 2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” We just need the love for our neighbors to step out in faith
IV. An intersection of love
A. Matt Snyder during the revival spoke about the vertical axis going to God and the Horizontal axis to man. Lets look at this graph. If your love God but are a hermit, you still fall short because you are failing to do what He commands , but you love man to a point of not knowing a stranger, you still fall short because you do not know God. No matter where you are you need to bring them together by working toward Jesus.
B. This first takes place with Sacrifice
i. Romans 12:1–2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
ii. Jesus took up a cross in death, but he also presented his body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, He gave His life in the first years in study and preparation he did not just do carpentry, the last three years He gave to ministry and finally His body was given as payment for our sins, He gave it all
C. We also need to be a part of Discipleship
i. We are called to be disciples which means we are called to follow the teachings, life, and aim of Jesus Christ, to try and become Christ like - John 8:31–32 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
ii. We are also called to make disciples - Matthew 28:18–20“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
iii. A place to start this process is to get involved in a Discipleship group -It’s purpose is evangelism, prayer, bible study, fellowship, and shepherding. The elders of PVCC believe that everyone should be in a Discipleship group, we are calling them 419 after Matthew 4:19“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Talk to Paul and Bradley to get started. The apostles were in a discipleship group with Jesus, they were sent out form that gourp to evangelize, and later they formed their own groups.
V. Conclusion
A. My challenge to all of us
i. Grow closer to God (chart)
ii. Get involved in ministry (chart)
iii. Discipleship (chart)
B. We are living in a society that is failing God and trying to bring us down with it. Jude 3–4 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
C. We need to check our scriptures daily, Luke says in Acts 17:10–11“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Even though the men preaching were the authority of the time, still they search the scripture. We have men and women that were once held high because of there doctrine, they wrote books that were on the best sellers lists, but now they are part of the progressive Christianity movement. As we read books we need to discern what is being said and check it against the word of God
D. We need to make sure what we speak, teach, preach is biblical. Commentaries and other books that supplement understanding of scripture are produced by man and are fallible. The Bible was, is, and will always be the authority of scripture, all else is opinion of man. Mark 9:42“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
E. I would like to close with these verses.
Galatians 1:8–12
“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The things I presented are basic, but they are foundational. It is not about changing the church to meet the current culture it is about changing the current culture to met God. This is where we make our stand