 Scripture
|
|
|
GIVE UP CHEAP FAITH AND GET READY FOR PERSECUTIONI. IMAGE OF JESUS II. WORK OUT SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING III. ATTAIN TO THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST WITHIN MORE AND MORE IV. PERSECUTION READ 1 PHIL 2 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
1 ROM 8 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
I. IMAGE OF JESUS BOARD What does he look like: Holy Loves Perfectly Forgives Perfectly Perfect in every way No sin So selfish motivation So deceit Faithful Honorable Righteous
MODESTY LUKE 9 The Cost of Following Jesus 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
COURAGE AND FAITHFULNESS AND OBEDIENCE John 12 27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
LESSON We cannot aspire to this on our own
1 JN 3 1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
TC 1 JN 3 7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Faithful Rom 3:3-10 3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar.
LESSON God’s faithfulness never changes. Even with our unfaithfulness, Jesus Christ’s faithfulness can shine forth from within even when we fail Him. Our testimony to His infinite, love, forgiveness and patience is how we show others Christ.
First, how we allow God’s Grace to order our thinking, behavior, and perspective on ourselves:
1 Jn 3:19-20 9 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Second, how we allow God’s Grace to order our thinking, behavior and perspective toward others:
Satan wants us to always look back. Looking back we run into walls he constructs: unforgiveness, guilt, rage, unbelief, hate, divisiveness, vengeance, etc.
Jesus Christ wants us to look forward. Keeping our eye on the perfect loving God who promises to light our footsteps and clear our path Ps119 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Pv 3 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. [clear a path for us]
II. WORKING OUT OUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING
READ 2 Phil 2:12 12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
Heb 12:28 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
TC 1 PT 1:17 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.
LESSON It is this reverence and fear of God that drives us seek Him and His wisdom daily as a saved Christian. It is this fear that reminds us where we come from (a life of sin and hopelessness)
This is a consuming fire of our entire life
CONSUMING LOVE
REV 2 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
SO WHO ARE WE TO BE ?
TC James 1:23 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
Eph 2 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
TC 2 Tim 2:11-13 11Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
III. ATTAIN TO THE FULLNESS OF JESUS CHRIST IN YOU
IF WE DON’T TRY TO INCREASE IN JESUS CHRIST EVERY DAY WE ARE SAYING ONE OF TWO THINGS: 1) WE ARE ALREADY PERFECT LIKE JESUS 2) WE HAVE GONE AS FAR AS A GOD WITH LIMITED POWER CAN TAKE US
MORE AND MORE
Philippians 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing
READ 3 Eph 3:14-20 4 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
TC I JN 2:5 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love[a] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
LESSON : PART OF THE FULLNESS IN CHRIST IS SUFFERING ON HIS BEHALF
BOARD 2 Col 1: 24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Hebrews 13:13 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.
ACTS 5:41 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
BOARD 3 Phil 1:29 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,
Jms 5:10-11 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
2 Cor 10:17 17 But, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”[jer 9:24]
READ 4 MATTHEW 5 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I. OUR LIFELONG AMBITION: MORE AND MORE
We are to increase in our fullness of God in Jesus Christ “more and more”
MAT 5 Salt and Light 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
IF WE LIVE AS SALT WE WILL:
1) IRRITATE – Speak the Truth 2) HEAL – healing Grace for others 3) SEASON -be different and exciting as a Christian 4) PRESERVE –saving Grace for others 5) PENETRATE – Spread the Gospel everywhere V. GIVE UP CHEAP FAITH AND GET READY FOR PERSECUTION
REMEMBER THAT IF YOUR FAITH IS SINCERE AND THE IMAGE OF CHRIST IN YOU IS REAL, THE WORLD WILL HATE AND PERSECUTE YOU
MAT 5 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
READ 5 JOHN 15 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]
TC JOHN 3 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”[a] LESSON If we attain to the image of Jesus in a sincere way, why should we or how could we expect the world to act any differently to us than it did to the Son of God Himself?? a sure test is whether or not you are being persecuted like Jesus was.
John 7 1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. 2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. 6 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” 9 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee
LESSON How we respond to the persecution will witness to the world our Faith is real, based on a God that is real, who sent a real Son to Save us. Our Savior lives within us.
LIVING OUR LIVES
TC MAT 10 32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. 34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[e] 37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
DON’T TAKE THE EASY WAY Jesus - Jerusalem don’t go there Take the easy way don’t go
Luke 13 31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem
Mat 16 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life[h] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Enter content here Enter content here |