Worship call 0722 Who me, perfect?

Brethren, remain faithful! 1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. In the early 1800s, a preacher gave a message to call men to join him on the mission field in Africa. In the audience were only a few women along with a boy. The pastor knew that few women were expected to volunteer to face harsh African jungle conditions. However, he gave the message; and no one responded. What he didn't realize was that he had touched the heart of a little boy whose name was David Livingstone. This boy would grow up to spend the rest of his life ministering to Africa's unreached tribes. David Livingstone was touched by the faithfulness of a pastor who gave his message when there seemed to be no obvious fruit from its delivery – and that made all the difference! The lesson is this: we are not in charge of results but only responsible for being faithful to what God has given us to do. You may not be seeing any fruit from your obedient labor at the moment – it may appear next week, next year, or a century from now, but in its time, the fruit will appear and may be greater than you could have ever imagined. Heaven will, one day, reveal the fruit of lives we have touched by our faithfulness! Brethren, be encouraged – and don't give up. Your faithful stewardship will produce its true harvest, which will never fade or pass away!

Your Family in the Lord with much agape love

George Baht Rivka Obadiah and Eliana

And this is another fine day in the Lord

prayer

remember tonight part 2 of our Sunday service

Well, actually it is the 5th of September and this is a recording to test out some new equipment and adjustments. I figured to give it a trial run this evening, if every thing worked well then I’ll post the lesson if not then the morning will be the second go.

Please let me know how it looks on your end

Matthew 5:48 (NASB95) — 48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Therefore,

89.50 οὖνa; μενοῦνb: markers of result, often implying the conclusion of a process of reasoning—‘so, therefore, consequently, accordingly, then, so then.’[1]Taking what has been taught thus far by our Lord on the mount, that is

The Beatitudes

Living according to a higher standard

Treatment of others

Disciples and the world

Personal relationships

All of it is summed up in one statement is to Be perfected.

You are to be perfect

You all are to be

εἰμί is the verb, to be, is future Middle indicative second person plural.

13.1 εἰμίa: to possess certain characteristics, whether inherent or transitory—‘to be[2]

And what is it that the Lord says that we are going to be?

Perfect.

88.36 τέλειοςa, α, ον: pertaining to being perfect in the sense of not lacking any moral quality—‘perfect.’ εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνήρ ‘if someone never makes a mistake in what he says, he is a perfect man’ Jas 3:2; ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστιν ‘therefore be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect’ Mt 5:48. Compare the meaning of τέλειοςe ‘mature’ in 88.100.[3]

IN time; it is describing the mature believer.

IN eternity it is describing the born again believer who has gone from the corruptible body to the incorruptible body.

In the Old Testament there was Noah

Genesis 6:9 (NASB95) — 9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

[9459] תָּמִים tāmîm 91× without defect, blameless, perfect [8549] See faithfulness; perfect; sincerity; unblemished; whole.

We find out later that Noah still had his shortcomings. As King David certainly did. But none the Less they were mature in the faith, brought the appropriate sacrifices to the alter.

Another who is identified with blamelessness is Job

Job 1:8 (NASB95) — 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”

I wonder what separated these men from others so much that they were pointed out along with others. What makes a man or woman of God?

Faith. Which is the right attitude toward the word of the Lord. God Said and the man and woman of God responds positively keeping God’s word.

Maturity in the faith is view in Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:13–15 (NASB95) — 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

We bring only Malleability to the table. And even the will to do has to do with the Lord

Philippians 2:13 (NASB95) — 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

So even my own willingness is a gift as it is that God hardens and softens hearts. In maturity there is nothing at all that we can raise our hands and claim our own victory but what?

Victory in Jesus!

When Jesus says you will be perfect, I am confident that what he is doing to and in me is going to be accomplished.

Philippians 1:6 (NASB95) — 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Jude 21–24 (NASB95) — 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

Perfect?

What does this mean?

It means that you all are to be perfected or made complete. It paints a future reality. This is not an imperative command. It is what you are going to be.

Look at it this way. You Show up at boot camp. You have been a couch potato all your life. That is, you have sat and watched TV all your life eating junk food. You are overweight. You cannot even get up and go to the kitchen to get another soft drink without being winded. And now you have this Lean mean fighting machine Sergeant saying that he is going to mold you into an image much like himself, as you look down at your belly hanging over your belt doubting that it can ever be done.

Yes, you might see how spiritually out of shape you are. You are weighed down with the habitual sin and the consequences of sin and a broken life at this point. But the Lord promises that you are going to be that which not what is depended upon your own ability to fix yourself but what God is going to do.

You are going to be perfected in the spiritual life.

I can’t see it.

But can you say, “Nothing is impossible with the Lord.”

And if nothing is impossible what makes you think that what he is about to do in your life and what he is at work molding your life to be in the image of his son is so impossible?

Paul says though I am weak I am strong.

If you think that that is something far out of your reach, remember what the Lord did with 12 unlikely heroes of the faith who turned the world upside down. Like the disciples and like the branches that we are we are to be connected continually with Christ the vine which nourishes our spiritual lives.

No I’m afraid not a single person who sat before Jesus and listened to the sermon on the mount left that day being perfect, and not even now we have a ways to go, and won’t be able to get there but the lord is saying in the future you will be perfect.

Ok, your thinking of getting your act cleaned up. No more drinking, no more cussing, no more living a licentious lifestyle. From now on I’m going to be perfect.

First of all it is going to leave you in much frustration.

And even if for a moment you think you can live the straight and narrow by your own determination and raise your hand in victory because you have reached some level of piety. Also remember that the Lord said that your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, the Lord raises the bar.

as your heavenly Father is perfect.[4]

Might I say it another way.

as perfect as God!

Again, the impossible task that lies ahead.

You’re asking, “How”?

I can never meet the righteousness of God.

You are so right!

And if you set out determined to be as perfect as God… You do not know God and you have a skewed idea of what God’s perfection is.

It is not what we are at work to do to make ourselves Perfect or complete. It is what God is at work doing.

We have to yield to God what he is going to do to sanctify us. That is to make us holy and acceptable before his presence.

What is the Lord going to start with? Making us so that we are acceptable to him in his presence.

Remember the point:

1. We are not a completed work when we are born again.

2. God’s work began at regeneration that is making that which once was dead, the human spirit alive. This is Justification

3. God’s work continues to shape and mold the believer bringing the believer to the place of maturity in the faith.

How we walk in the spirit and how we orient to the word of the Lord will be the measure by which we reach that glorious objective which we are being brought to.

[1]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 782). United Bible Societies. [2]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 148). United Bible Societies. [3]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 745). United Bible Societies. [4] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (Mt 5:48). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.

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