Monday, April 16, 2012

I Want To Know Him (Sermon)

Paul hit the nail on the head when he spoke the following passage.  He had owned the seat of respect and power and willingly gave it up when he discovered the truth.  In the parable of the pearl, Jesus spoke of a man who found a pearl of great price (Matt 13:45) whose value was so great that he went and sold all that he had to purchase it.  That man's possessions and position were meaningless in that moment even though he had worked so hard to attain them ... that is what the truth does.  It sheds light on our priorities.  Paul figured this out ... so should we ... and if we do ... we will also find true joy in what others may see as insanity and a waste of time ....

I Want To Know Him

Phi 3:8-11  But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ  and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith,  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death;  if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

My desire is simple: to KNOW and to BE
To know:
1) HIM (Jesus)
2) the POWER of HIS resurrection
3) the FELLOWSHIP of HIS sufferings
To be:
4) made CONFORMABLE to HIS death

Only through Jesus is the remission of sins (salvation)
Rom 10:9-11  Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. 11  For the Scripture says, "Everyone believing on Him shall not be put to shame."
  • Not be put to shame for believing…Jesus will return and judge to the horror of many
Act 10:42-43  And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. 43  All the Prophets give witness to Him, that through His name whoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins.
Heb 9: 22-23, 27-28  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23  Therefore it was necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves were purified with better sacrifices than these. 27  And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment, 28  so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And to those who look for Him He shall appear the second time without sin to salvation.

Every Knee shall bow…
Phi 2:5-12  For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6  who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, 7  but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. 8  And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9  Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name, 10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; 11  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.
  • We decide when and where
I Want To Know Him: (The Gospels)
Heb 4:12-16  For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 14  Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15  For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted just as we are, yet without sin. 16  Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Luk 2:21-35  … Behold, this One is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against 35  (yea, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also), so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

I Want To Know Him!!!  What did Jesus teach us? (A review of lessons learned by following Jesus' life through the gospels) 

§ Jesus came to bring us back to the intended level of intimacy with God: heartfelt
§ Jesus chose to live a life of humility in order to secure for us a life of victory
§ Jesus loves when we spend time in Him
§ Just because you feel it is time to leave, doesn’t mean Jesus is behind it
§ Jesus will never be found for you among your family, you must find Him for yourself
§ Jesus is never lost to us; He is right where WE LEFT HIM
§ Jesus understands temptation (40 days no food!!!)
§ Jesus Overcame Source of Man’s Sinfulness (1 Jn 2:16)
§ We should seek shelter in the Grace of Jesus Christ
§ Jesus set the example for taking authority (over Satan) Eph
§ A time of seclusion and separation will always precede one stepping out in ministry
§ Jesus began His ministry at home.
§ Jesus desires our ministry to reflect who we are in HIM
§ Jesus commands that our ministry be submissive to the local authorities we find ourselves under (Family, Church, and State) unless they are demanding you to sin
§ We are to let the Lord guide us in what we will minister on and to whom our ministry will reach and for what the duration of our ministry will be.
§ We are to minister the full word of God, even if we know it will jeopardize our personal well being.
§ Jesus first recorded sermon consisted of 22 major points but had one central theme:  God looks past what is seen and judges the heart.

***I Want To Know Him

Ways to know Him more intimately.
Trust and Obey Him 
a)  Joh 14:15  "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
***when we cannot obey out of understanding we  must obey out of ignorance

Seek Him

a)     Isa 55:6  Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
b)     Mat But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.
c)      Psa 24:6  This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah.
d)     Isa 40:31  but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
e)     Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Approach Him with faith as a child…

a)     Mat 18:2-3 And Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in their midst,  and said, Truly I say to you, Unless you are converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
§  Children trust their father with a perfect trust.  My daughter trusts me perfectly. 
§  Children are not hardened by false worldly knowledge…they have no preconceptions or prejudices against what is being taught to them.

Abide in Him

a)   1Jo -28  But the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and no lie, and as He has taught you, abide in Him.   And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is revealed, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him in His coming.
b)  Joh 15:4  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
c)  Psa 27:4,8  One thing I have desired from the Lord, which I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to pray in His temple.  My heart says to You, Seek my face; Your face, O Lord, I will seek…
d)  Act   For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also certain of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.

***The Common Extremes: 

§  “The more I do for Him, the more I am accepted by Him.”

Eph 2:8-10,14,18-19 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast…
Mat -23 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?  And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!

§  “Right now I want to have fun…I will make that decision when I am older.”

Luk 12:19-20a  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat drink and be merry. 20  But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul shall be required of you

§  I know of Him and believe He is God and that is enough

Jas 2:19  You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

§  “I have gone too far…”

1Jo 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Rom 5:5  And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. 6  For we yet being without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7  For one will with difficulty die for a righteous one, yet perhaps one would even dare to die for a good one. 8  But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9  Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Of all of the things I hope to do in my life, all will be worthless in the moment if I do not first attend to this.  In the parable of the pearl, the purchaser did not just quit his life ... you can be sure that he began to work again to make himself a good life.  The point was, and will always be, that possessions and positions will always take a second seat to priorities if they will be worth anything more than temporary collectables and bragging rights.

We will all die ... and everything we have collected will remain for others to make use of whether good or waste.  But a life prioritized with Christ first will leave behind more than that ... my children have inherited from me already more than I can ever give them in my death ... and they will have the peace of mind knowing where I am going and how to meet me there ... and, of most importance, how to lead their children to lead their children to the same great treasure.

Where are your priorities?  Remember, if Jesus is not Lord OF ALL then He is not Lord AT ALL.  He will never accept a second seat ... no good king would.

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