SERMON OUTLINE

Be Careful How You Live in 2010

Ephesians 5.15-21

See you therefore carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days evil are.           Ephesians 5.3-4 (Literal translation)

Introduction

The big idea in Ephesians 4.17-5.21 is that you were once a sinner under the wrath of God but God has made you into a new person in Christ, so you need to live in a new way according to God’s truth and by God’s power.

Seeing Carefully How You Walk Means…

-Frequent examination of our heart and actions

-Purposeful application of the truth we learn

-Serious undivided attention to being a Christian

A Plan to Walk Carefully By…

1) Buying up every opportunity (kairos) God has give to us to learn and to share the Gospel because these are evil days. Colossians 4.5-6

2) Knowing the will of God through the study of God’s Word and prayer.

3) Being filled with the Holy Spirit by being clean, submissive and totally obedient to God. The results of being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking to one another, singing in worship to the Lord, thanksgiving for everything, and submission in relationships.

Conclusion

Live carefully not by constant introspective self-conscious examination of all that you are thinking and doing, but by having a preoccupation with love for God and God’s truth and remaining filled with the Holy Spirit.

SERMON NOTES

Careful Living in 2010  (Ephesians 5.15)

Be Careful How You Live in 2010             Ephesians 5.15-21

-This is the last message in this series on careful living in 2010. In two weeks time we will begin a three week series on the armor of God from Ephesians 6.10-20. Pray for that. Then in October to December we have a number of special services coming up such as prayer for the church family, IDOP for the persecuted Church, a baptism, anniversary service, and then Christmas services to end the year. I encourage you to pray on Saturdays for God to prepare your mind and heart each week for worship and the Bible message on Sunday.

-In verses 15 to 21, Paul summarizes what he has been writing about from 4.17. The “big idea” which Paul has been emphasizing in this section is that at one time we were sinners, separated from God, in spiritual darkness, under the wrath of God, living to fulfill the desires of the flesh and the mind, full of impurity and greed. But something supernatural happened. God came to us and made us spiritually alive in Christ and gave us the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. God made us new people in Christ. As a result of God’s work we have a new destiny and a new nature and these changes require a new way of living. We are to put off the old ways that are associated with the old life we used to live, and we are to now live new ways that imitate God and that honor God and that are worthy of God’s call upon our life (4.1). We are to learn what pleases God and do those things. We have the teaching of God’s Word to direct our steps and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us to do what is right, and we have no excuse for living by the old ways.

-Paul writes, “Therefore see carefully how you walk”. The Bible teaches me that as a Christian I am to be very careful how I live my Christian life before God and others. To “see carefully” means two things to me. First it means frequent examination of my life. And second it means purposeful application to my life of the truths I am learning. I am to make sure that my motives and actions express the new man that I am in Christ. As a Christian I am to carefully consider my attitudes, my words, my actions, my desires, my influences, my heart, my mind, my spirit, my emotions, my whole life and my whole Christian walk. I am to be aware of how I am living before God and before others. I am to give my Christian walk undivided attention. My Christian walk is to be my primary occupation. We all need to ask ourselves how serious we are about living the Christian life. Is Christianity some important knowledge I have added to my life because it meets my needs or is my whole life given to becoming more like Christ and seeking to bring Glory to God?

-In these verses Paul provides the Christian with an excellent plan for careful living. Paul outlines three steps to see carefully how we walk. Each step states the negative we are to avoid and then gives the positive we are to pursue. Verses 15-16 command us “not to be unwise but wise by making the most of our time”. Verse 17 says “not to be foolish but understand the will of the Lord”. And verses 18-21 teach that we are “not to be drunk but filled with the Spirit”. All of these commands fit together and form an excellent plan for careful living. Let’s briefly examine each of these commands and how they fit together.

-We are not to live as unwise men and women but as wise men and women by making the most of our time. A wise man in the Bible is a man who has right knowledge and then practically applies that knowledge to his experience and reaps the result of a successful life. A example of Biblical wisdom is found at the end of the Beatitudes when Jesus says, “everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; …And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.” (Matthew 7.24,26) The wise man took the knowledge that he had and acted upon it and reaped success. So a strategic move for careful living is to be wise by making the most of the opportunities that God has given us.

-So how do we make the most of our opportunities? Let me explain a couple of Greek words that are used in this verse. That will help us. “Make the most” is the word redeem which means to pay a ransom or buy up. There is a commitment, a cost, a choice to be made, if we are to live carefully as Christians. Then the word for “time”. Greek has two main words for time. One is chronos which means the measure of time. Our word chronometer for example means an accurate watch to measure time. The other Greek word for time is kairos. That word does not refer to the measure of time but to a window of opportunity in time. Kairos is like a “Kodak moment”. That special opportunity that comes and then is gone. So the wise Christian who desires to be careful in how he lives buys up every opportunity that comes his way to learn, to obey, to serve, to grow in Christ. The careful Christian turns away from unwise wasteful opportunities, those things which are not worth buying up, says no temptations to sin, does not keep wrong company, turns away from worldly input to the mind, and wisely seeks every opportunity to put on the new man which is created in righteousness and holiness.

-Right now as we are gathered together for worship and the Word of God is a kairos moment, an opportunity for God can speak to you and for you can grow in Christ. If you are not here this morning you did not buy up the opportunity. Wednesday evenings is a kairos moment, an opportunity to pray with God’s people to strengthen and enlarge the kingdom of God. Every morning is an opportunity to spent quiet time in God’s Word and in God’s presence to be built up in the Lord. Buying up these regular opportunities makes us sensitive to buy up the other opportunities that come along our path each day. You see our relationship with God must be our priority and we are to buy up every opportunity to grow in Christ.

-We are also to buy up every opportunity to serve others. Galatians 6.10 says, “While we have opportunity (kairos), let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Buy up those opportunities.

-In the same way we are to buy up every opportunity to share the message of the Gospel with those we meet along the path of life. We need to be aware of those windows of opportunity and take a hold of them before they disappear, perhaps forever. As Colossians 4.5-6 says, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity (kairos). Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.”

-Why should we buy up every opportunity given to us to become more like Christ and to serve others, and to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those around us? Because we live in evil days. These are days of spiritual warfare for the souls of men, and attempts to bring down Christians, and to attack the Glory of God. These are days of darkness and if we do not buy up every opportunity to grow then we will be pulled back by the Devil, the world, and especially by our own flesh. If you want to know how evil the days are then start taking advantage of every opportunity to move forward in obedience to Christ and see what kind of opposition you encounter, even from other Christians. Start to share the Gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ and see how very evil these days are. We need to take our calling as new people in Christ seriously and take hold of all that God has provided for us to grow and to be light in an evil world.

-Paul adds a second step for careful living, “do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is”. The foolish Christian does not study the Word of God and therefore does not understand the will of God. The will of God is the outworking of the character of God and always has the Glory of God as its goal. I include prayer along with the study of God’s Word in understanding the will of God because the will of God is more than decrees and doctrines and commands and how history will end according to the Bible. The will of God is not just theology, it is also what God is up to today in your life, in your neighborhood, in your church, in your workplace. How is God moving by His Spirit in your life and in the circumstances around you. This understanding of the will of God is discerned in prayer and in communion with God as we study His Word. Know what pleases God (v10) and the will of God as you buy up the opportunities God gives you.

-So far we have a serious determination to see carefully how we live, by being willing to buy up every opportunity that comes along for growth and for sharing the Gospel; and the study of God’s Word to know God’s character and God’s will, and prayer to understand God’s will in my present circumstances. These things move us forward in God’s plan to see carefully how we live. Paul now adds one more very important command which pulls everything together. We are to be filled with the Spirit.

-Getting drunk with wine is a mark of being unwise and foolish. Getting drunk does not buy up the opportunities that God gives us nor does it use the resources God has given to grow in Christ. Getting drunk is not the will of God. Getting drunk is wasteful and leads to a lack of self-control. Drunkenness marked the past behavior of these believers but now they must come under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

-“Be filled with the Holy Spirit” is a present passive command. This is a command to let God continually fill you with the Holy Spirit. There are three requirements for God to continually fill us with the Holy Spirit. 1) A clean heart. You need to have a clear conscience so that you know of no sin that is between you and God, and you and another person. 2) A willing submission to God. The filling of the Holy Spirit is about submitting to God. When we come to God and offer our whole life to Him, He will guide us by His Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is not a feeling. It is not speaking in tongues. It is the character of Jesus being expressed through you and the power to witness about Jesus to others. 3) Total obedience. Complete submission to God means we are willing to fully obey God. When the Holy Spirit prompts you to speak, or witness, or repent, or ask for forgiveness, or humble yourself, or confront someone with their sin, or shut up, or give money, or bake a pie for someone, or help a neighbor, then obey. If we do not obey we grieve and quench the Holy Spirit of God and must start the filling process over again with confession of sin, submission to God, and total obedience to God.

-What is filling your life today? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit or are you filled with Self and the things of this world?

-Paul records four of many things that mark the Spirit filled life. 1) Speaking to one another with scripture. This is a reference to the fellowship of believers who encourage and urge one another with the Word of God as they worship together. I am glad that as a fellowship in worship God has led us to include Scripture throughout our worship service. As we read scripture together let us be aware that we are not only reading for ourselves but are encouraging each other in the Lord. 2) Singing to the Lord. This is a reference to worship. The Spirit filled Christian will be enthusiastic to gather with God’s people and sing praises to God. If it is not your desire to join with God’s people every week in worship and to encourage the saints and to be encouraged yourself, the problem may be that you are not filled with the Spirit because of sin and worldliness.  3) Thanksgiving to God for everything in the name of the Lord. A mark of being filled with the Spirit is a submission that acknowledges the Sovereignty of God in all the circumstances of our life and that submission to the Sovereignty of God is expressed in thanksgiving to God. 4) Submitting to one another in relationships is another mark of the Spirit filled life. Paul goes on to outline this submission in our significant relationships from verse 22 through to 6.9.

-So to walk carefully we are to, make the most of every opportunity God gives us to become more like Jesus by studying His Word, prayer, witnessing, being aware of what God is doing in us and around us, and making sure that we are filled with the Holy Spirit at all times. We must take our relationship with God seriously and concentrate on it above all the other things that occupy our life. We need to make choices to feed our minds and spirits on the things of God and then to serve God in the circumstances He has placed us in.

-One caution. The way to be careful how I walk is not through constant introspective self-conscious examination of all that I am thinking and doing. If you spend your days constantly reviewing every detail of your life to see if you are pleasing to God and if you are doing what is right, and if you are following the will of God, you will drive yourself and others crazy. The way to be careful how you life is to have your mind pre-occupied with love for God and with God’s truth, and with learning to be sensitive to the impressions of the Holy Spirit upon you as you walk through daily life. Be filled with the Word of God, spend as much time as you can in the presence of God in prayer, confess sin the moment the Holy Spirit convicts you, turn away from the many influences of this world, serve others, witness of Jesus and His salvation regularly, worship regularly with God’s people, in everything give thanks. Then you will be walking carefully.

-Be careful how you walk today and tomorrow and eternity will take care of itself. Benediction: Quote Ephesians 5.19a then together from overhead Psalm 95.1-7a

From the Pastor’s Desk on Monday, August 30^th, 2010

The end of this age seems quite near. The end of history as we know it is certainly nearer now than when Peter declared that we were in the last days. (Acts 2.17) In these last of the last days God calls us to endure to the end and to promote the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. In Matthew 24.9-14, Jesus said, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Let me encourage you to endure today and to shine as a light for Jesus today in whatever circumstances God has ordained for you. Then do it again tomorrow, and the next day. Keep enduring and shining until Jesus takes you home or until Jesus comes to close off this portion of history. Be part of that glorious throng of those who endured to the end. You may get into the harbor with your main mast broken and your sails shredded, and your hull splintered from the hard fight and the raging seas, but you will be one of those who endured to the end. Remember He is the King of Kings and it is this great King that we serve to the end. Don’t forget Jude 24-25, “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, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”Pastor ron

SERMON OUTLINE

Live As Children of Light     Ephesians 5.7-14

Introduction

-We have the highest of possible privileges as partakers in the grace and love of God. Ephesians 1.4-5, 7, 13-14.

-That was not always the case. Ephesians 2.1-10; 4.17-19.

-We are to live out this new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4.30; 5.1-2; 5.7-8

Do Not be Partakers With Them

-Them are the disobedient described in verses 3-6.

-We have a different destiny as children of God

-We have a different nature as children of light

Children of Light

-We were once darkness. More than in the dark. We were spiritually dead in sin, not just ignorant of the light. Illus: of a glass of water with ink added to it.

-This darkness blinded our minds, hardened our hearts, and directed us to fulfill our own desires.

-Only the power of God could take us out of darkness and make us light. God did this “in the Lord”. We know we are light in the Lord. We must be born-again. John 3.3-8

Light and Darkness

-The fruit of light is goodness, righteousness, and truth. The deeds of darkness are fruitless and shameful.

-We show the fruit of the Spirit and seek to do what pleases God. Galatians 5.22-23

-Light exposes the deeds of darkness and also calls the disobedient to repentance.

Conclusion

We are to walk as children of light and by that we glorify God, expose darkness and call the lost to Christ.

SERMON NOTES

Careful Living in 2010  (Ephesians 5.15)

Live As Children of Light         Ephesians 5.7-14 [read as one sentence]

-This tremendous letter to the Ephesian believers begins with a glorious description of the privilege we have received in the love and grace of God given to us in salvation through Jesus Christ. Let me read to you some of those glorious privileges. “God chose you in Christ before the creation of the world to  be holy and blameless in His sight” (1.4) “In love God predestined you to be adopted as His son through Jesus Christ” (1.5). “In Christ you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (1.7). “Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory” (1.13-14).

-The privilege of God’s love and grace in His choosing us and adopting us as His children in Christ, of His forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, was not always ours. Ephesians 2 tells us what we were like before Jesus Christ came into our life and saved us. All of us here were once like this. [Read Ephesians 2.1-10]

-At one time we were like many in the world still are, spiritually dead, in bondage to sin, and under the wrath of God. But something happened. God showed us His great mercy and made us spiritually alive in Christ. By grace God saved us from our sin and made us into new people. This spiritual transformation from sin and wrath to spiritual life in the Holy Spirit is the basis for Paul’s ethical commands in chapters 4 and 5. Paul has reminded us many times of this spiritual transformation. Again in 4.17-24 we are reminded of what we were before we came to Christ and how God united us with Christ and made us into new creations in Christ.

-Scattered all the way through these commands on how to live as a Christian Paul has reminded us that the source of this new life is God’s transforming work in us and the power of the Holy Spirit. 4.30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”. This verse points out that it is the Holy Spirit that is at work in us to make us like Christ and we are to co-operate with the Holy Spirit in working out that transformation. 5.1-2, we have a new life because we are “dearly loved children of God” by the new-birth, and so we are to imitate God and live a life a love. Now in verses 7 and 8 Paul is going to tell us once again that we are new people in Christ and therefore we are to live in a new way.

-The reason I read verses 7 to 14 so quickly this morning was to show you that this is one long sentence. Verse 7 says, “Therefore do not be partners with them”. “Them” refers to those who are disobedient to God and who live in sexual immorality, uncleanness and greed and whose destiny is the wrath of God. We are no longer to participate in their sinful disobedient ways but we are instead to follow God’s commands to be holy and loving. We can no longer live as they live because we know the destiny of their disobedient behavior and know that this is no longer our destiny in Christ. They await the wrath of God while we as dearly loved children of God and saints of God are on our way to heaven. So we are not to partner with the lost because we are on a different eternal path than they are.

-But there is a higher reason for no longer walking with the sinful world and with those who are disobedient to God. That higher reason is that we now have a different nature which is no longer compatible with their nature.

-Paul writes, “you were once darkness, but now are you light in the Lord”. Now I want you to pay close attention to what I am going to say here. Paul does not write, “you were once in darkness, or you were walking in the darkness”. Paul writes you were darkness. Nor does Paul write “you now see the light or have been enlightened to the truth”. Paul writes you are light in the Lord. You see more has taken place in your life, if you are a true Christian, than growth in knowledge and the clarification of ideas about Jesus Christ and morality. You are a true Christian only if a radical transformation of your nature has taken place. You were darkness but now you are light in the Lord.

-We were darkness because we were spiritually dead as a result of the sin of Adam. When Adam sinned he brought the whole human race into spiritual death and separation from the life of God. Our darkness was not a case of ignorance of the truth but a result of the power of sin controlling us. We were not in darkness but the darkness was in us.

-If I have a glass of water and put the glass in a dark room, I can say that the glass is in darkness. All I need to do is to turn on the light and the glass of water is no longer in darkness. But if I take a bottle of India ink and pour it into the glass of water, that water becomes darkness and whether the light is on or off or if I increase the brightness of the light, the water is still darkness. That is what sin has done to us. Darkness is our spiritual condition from birth. We are darkness in Adam and need to be made light in the Lord.

-This darkness of sin blinded our minds to the truth of God, hardened our heart toward God, and turned our will to the selfish pursuit of our own desires. Here is how Paul described it in 4.17-19. (see also Romans 1.21-25)

-Some of those selfish desires were animal lusts, and some of those desires were for money and reputation and respect and power, and some of those desires may even have been fulfilled in self-righteous service to God. But all these past pursuits were darkness and without spiritual life.

-Our need when we were darkness was not for more light, not for truth, not for knowledge and education, not for a new morality, not for religion, not for discipline, not for any self-help program. We did not need the help of Oprah or Dr Phil or Dr Oz to get us into the light. As darkness our need was for the Holy Spirit to come and convict us of our sin and to show us salvation from sin in Jesus Christ. Our need was for God to forgive us, and to make us spiritually alive, and to make us light in the Lord. Only God could transform us from darkness into light in Jesus Christ. [Read 2 Corinthians 4.4-6].

-The “but now” in verse 8 is the new-birth that came to us by the supernatural work of God in our lives. As true Christians we are not just enlightened but we are now light in the Lord. We are spiritually alive with the life of God and we now have the Spirit of Light living within us. We are light “in the Lord”. We are light in union with Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit.

-Those who are light in the Lord, know that they are light in the Lord. If you are calling yourself a Christian this morning but are not born-again by the power of God then you are still darkness and not light. If you are trusting in your morality, performance of religious duties, baptism, being a good person, you are still darkness and not light in the Lord, which means you are not a Christian. Nowhere does the NT speak of half-Christians or of a program that is to be worked on until we graduate as a Christian. At this moment you are either light in the Lord or darkness and separated from God. Make sure you know your standing before God.

-Paul says again what he has been saying all along in this letter, “Now that you are light in the Lord, live as children of light”. Paul has been giving us a number of commands on how to live as children of light. In verse 9, Paul describes in three general ways what it means to live as children of light. He says the fruit of light is goodness, righteousness and truth.

-Goodness means moral excellence. There is a branch of postmodern Christianity which prides itself in swearing in the pulpit to show the social relevance and freedom of Christianity. Many other things that dishonor God are done in the name of Christian freedom. The freedom of Christianity is not the freedom to do what I want but the power to do what is honoring to the Holy and loving character of God. Christ has set us free from sin and the world to live a godly life in good works as defined by Scripture, not by society.

-Righteousness means right behavior, doing what is right. Does the Bible tell us what is right behavior? It certainly does. The Bible reveals to us the character of God, and principles that can be applied to our circumstances, and sometimes even commands on specific behavior as we have in these chapters we are studying together.

-Truth means no lies, no hypocrisy, no false deceptions, but honesty and openness and transparency before God and others.

-Light produces fruit acceptable to God while the deeds of darkness are fruitless before God. (v11) As a true Christian your life should be bearing the fruit of goodness, righteousness and truth.  Galatians adds to this list the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5.22-23)

-Verse 10 commands us “to find out what pleases the Lord”. This we do by studying His Word. A couple of months back I did a quick study on what is well-pleasing to God. I looked up in my concordance all the uses of “wellpleasing” in the NT and came up with a list of things that are wellpleasing to God. I have that list in the bulletin this week. If you truly want to be wellpleasing to God then study the character of God and the will of God in the Word of God. During our time on earth the Bible is the authority that is to guide our life. It will direct us to God and to life in the Spirit.

-Verse 11, tells us again to “have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness”. Verse 7 commanded us not to be partakers with unbelievers and here we are not to be partakers in the deeds of unbelievers. As I mentioned last week we may not be as disconnected with the deeds of darkness as we need to be if we want to be fruitful Christians.

-Not only are we to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness but we are also to expose them. Those deeds of darkness are shameful and dishonor the Glory of God. Even those seemingly good deeds of self-righteousness dishonor God, for they are not done under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. Try and tell a self-righteous man that he is a sinner in need of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ and see what kind of a reaction you get. It will not be the reaction of someone who is poor in spirit and grateful for the grace and mercy of God. Humble submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is the test for light and darkness.

-The light of the Christian’s life exposes darkness. As we walk in the light of God’s truth the sin, evil, and unbelief of the world, is exposed as shameful before God. Everything becomes visible when exposed by light. Darkness is seen for what it truly is and not just as how it appears on the surface.

-The light of the Christian’s life is also a call to repentance, a call for the disobedient to come to Christ, to be brought out of darkness and to be made light in the Lord Jesus Christ. So it is imperative that we walk as children of light in a dark world. Verse 14 is a sample of a call to repentance.

-We no longer have the same destiny as those who live in sin and unbelief, and we no longer have the same nature of darkness that the disobedient have. Our destiny is eternal life and our nature is light in the Lord. Therefore we are to walk as children of light, no longer aligning ourselves with the disobedient, turning away from deeds of darkness, always seeking to please the Lord. As we walk as children of light we expose the darkness and call those who are in darkness to the light.

-As children of light we have been given the highest privilege possible to mankind. We have also been given a great responsibility. We have been called to represent God and Christ by walking as children of light. As children of light we imitate God, glorify God, expose darkness, and call men and women out of darkness and into the light. So live as a child of light. Be very careful how you live in 2010.

SERMON OUTLINE

Be Imitators of God        Ephesians 4.29-5.2

Introduction

-4.30 is a general principle directly connected to v29 and then to the overall context.

-5.1-2 is a general principle directly connected to 4.31-32 and then to the overall context.

Be Imitators of God

-An astonishing command and a high standard

-“mimaytes” = mimic; Copy God, follow God’s pattern

-Not physical behavior or incommunicable attributes

-But Communicable, moral attributes. Exodus 34.5-7

-v31-32 “kindness, compassion, forgiveness”

-Alexander the Great, “renounce your name or cowardice”

The Power to be Imitators of God

-We are dearly loved children and love for God compels us to love others. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us.

Romans 5.5; 8.15-16; 1 John 4.19

-The love of God is the key to being imitators of God. Love is more powerful than law. We are to walk in love. Galatians 5.6

-More than WWJD. More than copying the behavior of Jesus. The outflow of a relationship with God and the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our example of a life submitted to God in love.

Conclusion

1) God has done a supernatural work in every Christian

2) Our new walk is the expression of our new life in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us

3) Glorification is God’s goal and will be accomplished

SERMON NOTES

Careful Living in 2010  (Ephesians 5.15)

Imitators of God               Ephesians 4.29-5.2

-Two weeks ago we studied verse 30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God”. We learned that this verse was more of a general principle than a specific command on how to live. We connected this command directly to verse 29 which teaches that as Christians we are to speak words that build others up. We were reminded that the Holy Spirit of God was responsible for giving us God’s revelation, recording that revelation in the words of the Bible, and using that revelation to teach us how to live. So our use of words is to follow the example of the Holy Spirit. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit with unwholesome words but rather we are to walk in the Spirit and build others up with our words.

-We also connected verse 30 with the overall message in these chapters, a message that commands us to live a holy life and not sin and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Since we are new creations in union with Christ we must walk in a new way, a holy way, and a way of love.

-We also noted that this new life is to be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. This new life is far more than the adoption of new standards/ethics lived out in our own strength. This new life comes from within and is a work of God in us.

-We find in 4.31-5.2 a similar pattern as in verses 29 and 30. We find in verses 31-32 the specific command on how to live and then in 5.1-2 a general principle connected to these verses and also applicable to the surrounding verses. The connection to 4.31-32 is made with the word “therefore”.

-Verse 1 begins with an astonishing command, “Be imitators of God”. If you remember nothing else this morning remember these four words, “Be imitators of God”. I want you to meditate on this phrase, “Be imitators of God” often this week. Roll the command, “Be imitators of God” around in your mind this week until you are gripped by the high standard that you are called to as a Christian. You are called to be like God in the way you live each day.

-The Greek word for “imitators” (followers in KJV) is mimaytes from which we get our English word “mimic”. We are to copy God, to be like God, to do things the way God does them, to follow God’s pattern.

-In what ways can we imitate God? We cannot imitate the physical behavior of God because God does not have a body to imitate. There are also certain characteristics (attributes) of God that belong to God alone such as His eternal existence, His omnipresence (present everywhere at once), His omnipotence (all powerful), His omniscience (knowing all things), His Glory and Majesty. These attributes are exclusive to God and can belong to no other but God. In theology they are called God’s incommunicable (cannot be shared by others) attributes. But there are attributes of God that are communicable (can be shared by others) such as holiness, love, goodness, mercy, patience, forgiveness, and justice. These are the characteristics we are to imitate. They are moral attributes which reflect the essence of God’s character. We are to imitate God’s moral character.

-As I have already said, verse 1 connects back to verses 31-32. In these verses we are given three attributes of God that we are to imitate – kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Remember last week’s message on the fifth Beatitude, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”? I said that forgiveness and mercy must be evident in the Christian. These verses are saying the very same thing. The Christian must imitate God by showing mercy (kindness and compassion) and forgiveness to others.

-In Exodus 34.5-7, God describes Himself to us in terms of His communicable attributes. [Read].

-These attributes are compassion, grace, patience, love, faithfulness, forgiveness, and justice. These are the attributes we are to imitate in our lives so that we will be like God and live as Christians should live.

-A man who had lost courage and run away from the battle field was brought before Alexander the Great. Alexander asked him what his name was. The man said “my name is Alexander”. Alexander the Great said to the man, “either renounce your cowardice or renounce your name”. Alexander did not want his namesake to be known as a coward. So God wants those who claim to belong to Him to be imitators of Him and to be like Him.

-We are to be imitators of God “as dearly loved children”. First of all we are not adherents to a religious system called Baptist or Christianity. We are children of God. We have been born again into the family of God. We belong to God and we have the seal of the Holy-Spirit-living-within-us to prove it. As children of God we are the beloved of God. We are the focus of God’s love and we know God’s love through the Holy Spirit who pours God’s love into our hearts and makes us to know God as “Abba, Father”. Paul writes that “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children”. (Romans 5.5; 8.15-16)

-Those who know they are loved with God’s love desire to love God in return. John writes, “we love because He first loved us”. (1 John 4.19) Knowing the love of God in His grace, mercy and forgiveness compels us to imitate God by loving others.

-Our status as beloved children of God leads to the next command, “live a life of love”. This is the key to being imitators of God and to keeping all of the other commands given in these chapters. Love is the fulfillment of the Law and a greater motivator than the Law. As Paul writes in Galatians 5.6, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”. God’s love is the essence of living the Christian life.

-Just a note here that “live” is the word “walk” which I have highlighted in the book of Ephesians. As Christians we are to walk in good works (2.10); walk worthy of our calling as Christians (4.1); walk as children of light (5.8); walk very carefully (5.15); and of course walk in love. We are no longer to walk in sin (2.2); we are no longer to walk as the Gentiles walk (4.17).

-A couple of years back many people were wearing bracelets with the letters WWJD on them. This idea was taken from the book “In His Steps” written in 1896 by Charles Sheldon. In that book Christians were challenged to ask “what would Jesus do” and live that way for one year. You might think that the command “Be imitators of God” is telling us to put on our WWJD bracelets and look for some good deeds to do or some injustice to correct. I hope that as a result of our study in Ephesians your conclusion is that the command to “Be imitators of God and live a life of love” is saying a lot more than copy the behavior of Jesus. We are to live a life of love to God and of love to others because God has changed us and lives within us. The love we are to live is the fruit of the Spirit of God, the outflow of our relationship with a loving God. It is more than a willful determination to keep a high moral standard for the sake of self-righteousness before God. A righteous moral life can be a life lived in the flesh and not in love and in the Spirit. This new life is God loving others through us. To live a life of love is to live a life of submission to the love of God that is willing to let God use all of us, in any way He pleases, to love others.

-The example we have for living a life of love is Jesus Christ. This love is a giving up of ourselves for the benefit of others. Our great need was to be reconciled to God because sin separated us from God. Christ gave himself as a sacrifice to God for my sin and made me into a child of God instead of an enemy of God. We in turn are to give ourselves to God in love and meet the need of others in love as God leads us, not considering our own life as worthy of preserving and protecting. In this way we will be true imitators of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, living in love.

-What Paul is highlighting in these chapters that we are studying is that God has done a supernatural work in your life by forgiving you, uniting you with Christ, and filling you with the Holy Spirit. You now have God living inside of you and that calls for a new way of living. Paul teaches us what this new way of living looks like in the way you talk, work, play, and relate to others. But, Paul continues to remind us every so many verses to never forgot that this new way is God living in and through you. Don’t just exchange your old sinful lifestyle for a new moral lifestyle, live in the power of God’s love, live by the Holy Spirit, live out of your relationship with God the Father. As you do, God’s life will change you and change others through you.

 -God’s purpose for you is nothing less than that you be like His beloved Son. If you are a Christian this morning you will one day be like Jesus. As sure as you are justified in Christ, you will be glorified in Christ. The plea of the NT is that you start to live like Jesus today by submitting to the power of the Holy Spirit and by showing forth the fruit of the Spirit which is love.

SERMON OUTLINE

Blessed Are the Merciful   Matthew 5.1-10

An Outline of the Beatitudes

V3, Foundation. Heart attitude that motivates all

V4-6, Three heart responses. Heart attentiveness

V7-9, Three outward responses. Heart in action

V10-12, The world’s response. Heart antagonism

First four are character. Last four are conduct.

Introduction

-The Beatitudes as a progressive description of Christian salvation and maturity. The foundation for salvation and spiritual growth is seeing ourselves as God sees us either as sinners in need of salvation in Christ or as Christians in need of the life of Christ. The “poor in spirit” mourn and repent, are meek/humble/teachable, and hunger for righteousness.

-Being before doing. Attitudes before actions. Spiritual life before Christian behavior.

Mercy and Grace

-To express kindness and to act to relieve pain, misery and distress caused by sin. Sympathy, pity, compassion with action.

-Mercy is relief from the consequences of sin. Grace is pardon from the crime of sin. Mercy seeks to reduce the pain of sin. Grace seeks to cure the problem of sin. Mercy reverses the damage of sin. Grace pays the price for sin.

Works Salvation or Proof of Salvation?

-Do we earn God’s mercy and forgiveness? Matthew 6.12, 14; 18.21-35; James 2.12-13

-If yes we are hopelessly lost for eternity and salvation is by works.

-This means that a person is only forgiven when they are truly repentant (1 Thessalonians 1.9) True repentance produces a merciful and forgiving attitude, a proof of the mercy and forgiveness of God.

Conclusion

1) Mercy and forgiveness are obvious.

2) Mercy and forgiveness must mark all Christians.

3) Mercy and forgiveness must be expressed to all.

SERMON NOTES

Blessed Are the Merciful              Matthew 5.1-10

-On Communion Sundays we have been working our way through the eight Beatitudes and this morning have come to the fifth one, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy”. Let me remind you once again to think of the Beatitudes as a progressive description of Christian salvation and maturity.

-Christian salvation and maturity begin with the conviction of sin and knowing our great need of God. When we see ourselves as righteously bankrupt before our Holy God we are ready to be saved from our sin. When we see our great need of God we are ready to seek God and grow spiritually. The foundation for salvation and spiritual growth is seeing ourselves as God sees us either as sinners in need of salvation in Christ or as Christians in need of the life of Christ. That is what the first Beatitude, “poor in spirit” means. The promise to the “poor in spirit” is that “theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Because of the great importance of seeing ourselves before a Holy God in order to grow spiritually, we should spend as much time as we can in His presence and in meditation on His Word. Want to grow spiritually? Spend time with God in prayer and in His Word and see who God is and see yourself as God sees you.

-Those who know they are “poor in spirit” mourn over their spiritual condition and God comforts them with forgiveness and the fullness of the Spirit of God.

-Those who have been forgiven and filled with the Spirit are meek/humble. They accept who they are before God and are humbled by God’s love and Grace. They are teachable and willing to be examined and to be directed toward the truth.

-The meek hunger and thirst for righteousness that will replace their sinful and godless past and that will enable them to draw closer to God and be a blessing to others.

-There is a progressive desire in the true Christian to draw closer to God. An acceptance of God’s evaluation of our lack of righteousness before Him leads to an attitude of mourning over sin, a teachable humility, and a hunger for God’s righteousness. The Christian is one who is willing to be evaluated by God and God’s Word as well as the exhortation of other Christians in order to draw closer to God. The whole attitude toward God slowly changes because God is working in that life.

-When we come to this fifth Beatitude we are moving from the inward work of God in the Christian to the outward expression of God toward others. The last four Beatitudes outwardly express the inward attitudes of the first four Beatitudes. Attitudes, good or bad, are eventually expressed in actions.

-We need to be a Christian before we act like one. I am not saying that a person cannot imitate Christian morality and ethics in their lifestyle. What I am saying is that acting like a Christian does not make you a Christian. A true Christian is a Christian before he or she ever acts like a Christian. First there must be a change of heart and attitudes and then a change in outward behavior follows.

-The Gospel calls people into relationship with God in Christ and proclaims the truth of God. It does not call people to conform to a Christian standard of behavior. The way Jesus presents these Beatitudes to us in going from attitudes to behaviors teaches us that spiritual life comes before Christian behavior. We should be more concerned with our relationship with God and our righteousness before God than with our outward performance. If we are righteous before God our outward performance will likely be right as well and will express a true relationship with God.

-To be merciful means to show mercy. To show mercy is to express kindness toward another and to act to relieve their pain and suffering. To show mercy is to sympathize with someone in what they are going through, to walk in their shoes, to be in their skin, and then to help them in their struggle.

-Mercy is similar to Grace but not the same as Grace. Mercy shows sympathy and compassion toward the pain, misery and distress that sin has caused. Grace is God’s response to the guilt and condemnation of sin. Mercy offers relief for the consequences of sin in this fallen world. Grace offers pardon for the crime of sin. Mercy seeks to reduce the pain that sin has caused while Grace seeks to cure the problem of sin. We need both Grace to alleviate the problem of sin, and Mercy to relieve the pain of sin. God came both in Grace and Mercy. In Grace God came to pay the price for our sin on the cross, and in Mercy He came to reverse the damage of sin by love, forgiveness, healing, restored relationships, the strength and presence of His Holy Spirit in trials and tribulations, and the encouragement of a future hope.

-Jesus is the fullest example of Grace and Mercy. Jesus died on the cross for the cure of sin but also brought relief from the consequences of sin by healing, casting out demons, forgiving, and loving those around him.

-This Beatitude has produced some wrong teaching in certain branches of the church because it seems to say that God’s mercy is earned by showing mercy to others. We have similar statements in other places in the Matthew. One is found in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6.12. “Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” And verse 14, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

-A second statement which implies that we earn mercy or forgiveness by being merciful or forgiving others is found in Matthew 18.21-35. [Explain parable]

-Jesus summarizes the parable by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Does this statement mean that God forgives me only if I forgive others and to the extent that I forgive others? (See also James 2.12-13)

-If this Beatitude and parable do teach that God shows mercy to us and forgives us according to the mercy and forgiveness that we show to others then we are hopelessly lost for eternity and will end up in hell. In order for me to be accepted by a Holy God and receive the gift of eternal life I need to receive God’s full mercy and forgiveness. To receive God’s full mercy and forgiveness I would need to be perfect in the mercy and forgiveness I give to others. That is not possible. To make God’s mercy and forgiveness conditional on the mercy and forgiveness I show to others cannot be God’s way of salvation because no one could be saved from their sin under these conditions. I praise God that the Bible does not teach that God’s mercy and forgiveness depend on my mercy and forgiveness to others.

-If my salvation depended on my mercy and forgiveness to others the Bible would be teaching salvation by works which we know is not the teaching of the Bible. Salvation is by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which paid the penalty for my sin. God’s grace offers salvation to me in Jesus Christ when I do not deserve it, not when I have earned it by showing forgiveness and mercy to others.

-So what does this Beatitude mean when it says that the merciful will be shown mercy? What does the Lord’s prayer and the parable of Jesus mean when they say that we are to be forgiven even as we forgive? What Jesus is saying in these three teachings is that a person is only forgiven when they are truly repentant. To be truly repentant means that I recognize my sin and that my sin is separating me from God. I see that because of my sin I cannot come before a Holy God. And so I am determined to turn from my sin and go in God’s direction. On the basis of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, God forgives me and gives me new life so that I can go in that new direction away from my sin and toward God. 1 Thessalonians 1.9 expresses well this repentance when Paul writes, “you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God”.

-True repentance which leads to faith and God’s forgiveness and mercy, and the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in me produces a heart that is willing to forgive and be merciful. If the heart is not willing to forgive and be merciful it means that no true repentance has taken place and therefore no salvation.

-If you are a Christian this morning forgiveness and mercy must be evidenced in your life. If they are not God will discipline your life until they are.

-I will end with three statements

1) In these last days mercy and forgiveness stick out like a missing thumb. This is especially true on a one to one basis. In this time of human rights, and my rights, and my needs, and victim mentality, the expression of mercy and forgiveness is noticed. Christians should be noticed by their love to others, and that love is shown in forgiveness and mercy.

2) Love expressed in mercy and forgiveness must mark the Christian. In too many ways the church imitates the world and is not mature in Christian love. Our union with Jesus Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit must be expressed in our lives and in our communities. That is what will make a difference in Welland. Christians living as Christians in their homes, workplaces and relationships is more effective than any evangelism program we can put together.

3) Love expressed in mercy and forgiveness should be our attitude toward all those who are in bondage to sin, even those that persecute us. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Mercy and forgiveness is how the lost will know there is a God of mercy and forgiveness in heaven ready to forgive them.

-Remember “Blessed are the merciful” is Beatitude number 5 but is the result of Beatitudes 1 to 4. Make sure you follow the process which begins with seeing yourself as God sees you, mourning and repenting over your sin, taking on a humble teachable attitude, and seeking after righteousness. Mercy is the active expression of that maturing process.

SERMON OUTLINE

Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit  Ephesians 4.30

And do not grieve the Spirit the Holy of God, by whom you were sealed for a day of redemption.

Introduction

Verse 30 is general principle with a direct connection to verse 29 and a general connection to the larger theme of Ephesians – living a new life by the Holy Spirit.

Six Holy Spirit Terms

1) Baptism with/in the Spirit = Sealing with the Spirit. God putting the Holy Spirit inside of us, joining us to the body of Christ and guaranteeing our future salvation

2) Walk in the Spirit by obedience (Galatians 5.16); Grieve the Spirit by sin/worldliness/neglect. Quench the Spirit by disobedience (1 Thessalonians 5.19).

3) Filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5.18). Walking in the Spirit after repentance, confession, submission.

What Grieves the Holy Spirit?

1) All sin big or small. Imaginations, attitudes, actions …

2) The flesh and worldliness. What fills your life?

3) Not trusting in God and neglect.

4) Quenching the Spirit from fear, pride, self-preservation

-A betrayal of love and relationship more than law

Results of Grieving the Holy Spirit

-Lose of the sense of God’s love, joy, peace, assurance and intimacy with God as Father. No power over the flesh. Conviction of sin.

-The danger of continuing to grieve the Holy Spirit. The dependence on substitutes instead of the real thing.

Conclusion

An examination before God and a willingness to change our ways.

SERMON NOTES

Careful Living in 2010  (Ephesians 5.15)

Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit               Ephesians 4.29-30

-We have been studying together various commands that describe how we are to walk/live as a Christian. As Christians we are to walk in truth and speak the truth. We are not to hold grudges. We are not to steal but to work and give to others. We are to use words to build others up and not to tear them down. We are to get rid of all bitterness and live in a spirit of kindness and forgiveness toward others. In the midst of these various ethical commands, Paul wrote verse 30. This verse is more of a general principle than a specific command on how to live. Let’s spend some time together on verse 30.

-Let us first ask ourselves some questions. “Why did God direct Paul to put this verse where he put it?” “Is it connected with the verses around it?” “What does this verse teach us when placed in this context?” Paul writes logically, connecting thoughts together, so we can assume that this verse is logically connected to the verses around it. There is both a direct connection and a general connection to the surrounding verses.

-One of the major ministries of the Holy Spirit since the beginning of time has been to make known God’s revelation to His prophets and to have them record truth as the Word of God. Peter plainly says, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. God is the author of Scripture through the Holy Spirit. Not only has the Holy Spirit been predominate in the revelation and recording of Scripture but His ministry is also to apply Scripture to men and women and transform them through its teaching. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit would come after Him, He would testify about Jesus and would guide the disciples into all truth. The Holy Spirit has always used the tremendous gift of language that God gave to mankind to reveal God, to glorify God, and to build men and women up to become like God. It is logical for Paul to write, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” after commanding the Ephesians to not let any unwholesome talk come out of their mouths and to use their words to build others up. Christians are to follow the example of the Holy Spirit in their use of words. To use words in anger and bitterness and lies and lust and greed, grieves the Holy Spirit of God whose purpose is to lift up the Glory of God and to build up God’s people with words. That is the direct connection of verse 30 to verse 29, to which it connects with “and”. Words are to be used to reveal God to others and to build others up in God and when they are not used in that way they grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

-It is not only sinful words that grieve the Holy Sprit of God but the other sins mentioned in the surrounding verses also grieve the Holy Spirit. 

-There is also a general connection to these verses as well. In this command Paul reminds us once again of two important truths he wants us to know.

1) In this command not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God Paul reminds us that the goal of the Christian life is to live a holy life that brings Glory to God. In the Greek the adjective “Holy” is emphasized by using the definite article. Literally the sentence reads, “Do not grieve the Spirit, the Holy, of God” (see bulletin). We are to live holy lives that will please the Holy Spirit and bring Glory to God.

2) Paul reminds us in this statement that the Christian life is more than ethical behavior. Our new behavior is motivated by the Holy Spirit in us. Paul has already emphasized our union with the death and resurrection of Christ that leads to new life in the Holy Spirit and here he reminds us once again of the source of this new life. We are to co-operate with the Holy Spirit of God in living a new holy life, we are not to grieve Him.

-Now I want to share with you six different Holy Spirit terms and explain how they interrelate. The first two terms are “Baptism in/with the Holy Spirit” and “sealed by the Spirit”. Both of these terms are used to describe the same work of God in those who are born again. These two terms describe God’s work of putting the Holy Spirit inside of us to make us spiritually alive. Baptism in/with the Holy Spirit is about our incorporation into the Church, being placed into the body of Christ. Sealing by the Spirit is God’s personal guarantee to us of our complete redemption, the witness of the Spirit mentioned in 1 John 4.24. These two terms describe the same activity of God coming to dwell in us by the Holy Spirit, at the same time joining us to other believers in the body of Christ, and giving us personal assurance of salvation in Christ.

-If the Holy Spirit does not live inside of you, you have not been born-again and you do not belong to God, and you are not going to heaven. (Romans 8.9) You must know that the Holy Spirit lives in you. The Holy Spirit living in you is God’s seal, God’s guarantee, to you of a full salvation on that day when you will stand before God.

-Following the Baptism with the Holy Spirit/the Sealing of the Spirit, we continually have three choices before us. These three choices are described by three terms, walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5.16), grieve the Spirit, or quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5.19). To walk in the Spirit means that we are following the Spirit’s leading in obedience to the Word of God. To grieve the Holy Spirit means we choose to follow sin and the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit. To quench the Holy Spirit means that we refuse to respond to the promptings and influences of the Holy Spirit, perhaps out of fear or pride or self preservation. Two of these choices lead us away from the Spirit’s rule and one keeps us under the Spirit’s rule and blessing.

-The last term is filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5.18). To be filled with the Spirit means that we are walking in the Spirit. If we have grieved or quenched the Holy Spirit we need to repent from the sin that grieved or quenched the Holy Spirit. We need to confess that sin to God and be forgiven. And then we need to submit ourselves without reservation to God and once again walk in the authority of the Spirit. To walk under the authority and influence of the Holy Spirit should be the continual choice and experience of the Christian.

-What grieves the Holy Spirit of God?

1) All sin, big and small grieves the Holy Spirit. Sinful imaginations, fantasies and thoughts that we dwell on grieve the Holy Spirit. Sinful attitudes, sinful motives, sinful words, sinful actions. God the Holy Spirit knows us thoroughly. What we can hide from others we can never hide from God. We must be living in holiness and love or we grieve the Holy Spirit.

2) All works of the flesh and worldliness grieve the Holy Spirit. When we seek to satisfy our own desires without considering God’s will and those around us we sin and grieve the Holy Spirit. When we conform to the goals and expectations of the sinful world around us we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. What we watch on TV, listen to on radio or mp3, entertain ourselves with, can grieve the Holy Spirit.

-Would you watch that show if Jesus was watching TV with you? Let me remind you that God is living inside of you and is with you always.

3) Our failure to realize the Holy Spirit’s presence in us and to rely on Him. In 2 Kings 1.1-4 we read of king Ahaziah who had fallen through the lattice of his upper room and injured himself. He sent messengers to Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron to see if he would recover. God send Elijah to meet these messengers and ask them “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to consult Baal-Zebub, the God of Ekron”. Therefore this is what the Lord says: “You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” God often rebuked His people for relying on their armies or foreign armies to deliver them and not coming to Him for help. God rebuked His people for going to Egypt to find help instead of coming to Him. On the other hand God rewarded those who trusted Him in impossible situations. Faith pleases God, but ignoring God and relying on our own resources instead of God, grieves the Holy Spirit. How often we ignore the Holy Spirit and go about our busy lives trusting in our own strength and resources? This too grieves the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 2.13 says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

4) When we quench the Holy Spirit’s promptings and nudges we also grieve the Holy Spirit of God who seeks to lead us into holiness and into fruitful service by prompting and influencing us.

-When we think of grieving the Holy Spirit we should think more in terms of a betrayal of love than the breaking of a commandment. By God’s grace we have been brought into relationship with God and God has pledged Himself to us by coming to live inside of us through the Holy Spirit. When we sin against God as a Christian we are betraying a relationship and not just breaking a law. Too many of us still live by law and not by love. The Holy Spirit is a holy person, a loving person, and any sin and unloving act is a betrayal against His person. As Christians we are not asked to walk in perfect conformity to law but to walk in a relationship of love to God. Walking in relationship to God is a much more powerful motive for living a holy and loving life than law. Love is the fulfillment of the law. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we violate the pledge of exclusive love we made to God when we called Jesus our Lord.

-What are the results of grieving the Holy Spirit of God? Once God has sealed us by coming to live inside of us, He will never leave us. But when we grieve the Holy Spirit, He withdraws the manifestations of His presence from us.

1) We lose the sense of God’s love for us

2) We lose the joy of our salvation

3) We lose the peace of God

4) We lose the assurance of justification and God’s acceptance

5) We lose the intimacy of “Abba Father” that comes by the Holy Spirit

6) We are given over to the sinful power of the flesh

7) We come under the conviction of sin

-We may continue to confess God’s love, joy, peace, and assurance but we no longer know the experience of these things. It is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit of God and to continue in that state for a long time, going through the motions of being a Christian while no longer walking in the Spirit and the fullness of the Christian life. When that happens we begin to rely on substitutes to replace the missing love and peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. The world is quick to offer substitutes to fill the void left when we grieve the Holy Spirit of God. We may live for many years without the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and not be aware of it, feeling empty and lonely because the substitutes do not quite satisfy. We are left wondering if the teachings of the Bible are more speculative theory than experienced reality.

-The problem is not with the Bible’s claims but with us. We have wandered from the real life of God of walking in the Spirit by preferring our sin, the world, and ourselves and grieving the Holy Spirit of God.

-I fear that as God’s people we are more regularly grieving the Holy Spirit than walking in the fullness of the Spirit. We must all examine ourselves to see how we are grieving the Holy Spirit of God.

-How many of us will actually take a chunk of time alone and get quiet before God this week and ask Him to examine our lives to see where we are grieving the Holy Spirit? After the examination comes the choice to change our ways or to continue in them without the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in us.

-How many of us have stopped climbing toward the summit of the mountain to meet with God? Perhaps this morning God is calling you to get hiking again, to be filled with the Spirit again, to learn to walk more regularly in the Spirit.

SERMON OUTLINE

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness  Matthew 5.6

Introduction

-Rosedale’s theme verse for this year and our desire for this fellowship. Pictures pursuit of God, shows the goal of righteousness, and promises filling.

-A key verse in the Beatitudes.

Righteousness Essential

-Must be righteous (holy) to know God

-Sin and the cross must always be part of the discussion

-The first 4 Beatitudes describe the process of becoming righteous before God and growing righteous before God.

Progression in the Beatitudes

-An outline for salvation and Christian growth

-Foundation: A recognition and acceptance that we are sinners before a Holy God. The flesh in Christians.

-Poor in spirit is the heart attitude the leads to the other Beatitudes. Mourning >> Meekness >> Hunger for righteousness

Two Kinds of Righteousness

1) Justification. Declared to be accepted by God through the sacrifice of Christ and the righteousness of Christ credited to us. A gift from God and a lasting reality.

2) Sanctification. Personal righteousness. A process of growth through obedience. Romans 6.9-22

Conclusion

We should be hungering and thirsting for righteousness and if we are not need to ask God to show us afresh our need of righteousness before a Holy God.

An Outline of the Beatitudes

V3, Foundation. Basic Heart attitude that motivates all

V4-6, Three heart responses. Heart attentiveness

V7-9, Three outward responses. Heart in action

V10-12, The world’s response. Heart antagonism

First four are character. Last four are conduct.

SERMON NOTES

Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Matthew 5.1-6

-Verse 6 is the theme verse we selected for 2010 at our leadership retreat in January. That is why it is on the wall. It has taken six months to get to this verse as we worked our way through the Beatitudes but now we are here.

-This verse expresses the desire we have for you and this fellowship. That we will be a fellowship that hungers and thirsts for righteousness.

-I like this verse a lot because it pictures a pursuit of God in the imagery of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. This verse also clearly identifies the pursuit as righteousness, a pursuit we need to be regularly reminded of. Too often we pursue happiness or other things and not righteousness. (Matthew 6.33) Finally this verse promises that the pursuer of righteousness will be filled.

-This is a key verse in the Beatitudes as I hope to show you.

-Blessing that deeply satisfies the soul and spirit comes as a result of a right relationship with God. The more you know God and live for God’s Glory the more you will be blessed. In order to know God we must be righteous. Because God is Holy we need to be holy if we want to be in relationship with Him. A hunger and thirst for righteousness is a desire to be free from sin in order to be rightly related to God. Whenever righteousness is mentioned in the Bible, sin and the cross must be part of the discussion because sin prevents us from being right with God, and the cross is the only way that we can become right with God. The process of becoming right with God is what these first four Beatitudes describe. Only those who are right with God will know the deep satisfaction of peace, joy and hope in relationship to God and will then go on to show the character of God in mercy, purity, and peacemaking.

-What I want you to understand this morning is how the statement made in verse 6 progresses from the previous three statements. In the Beatitudes we find a description of how a person comes to faith in Christ and of the result of that faith in Christ. In the Beatitudes we also find described the ongoing process of maturity in the Christian life. Think of the Beatitudes as a basic outline of salvation and of the process of Christian growth.

-The foundation for both becoming a Christian and growing as a Christian is a recognition and acceptance that we are sinners before a Holy God. The sinfulness of man before a Holy God is an essential truth in the Bible. The first 2 chapters of the Bible tell us about the creation of man in the image of God and God’s command for man to obey Him. Then in chapter 3 we have man’s disobedience of God and man’s fall into sin. The rest of the Bible describes the devastating effect of sin on mankind and God’s redemption of mankind in Christ. Sin separates man from God and only God can bring man back to God. Even after we are born-again there is still that pull toward sin which the Bible calls the flesh, which we need to overcome by learning to walk in the Spirit.

-The first Beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” describes the heart attitude that leads to the rest of the Beatitudes. A recognition and acceptance that we are not righteousness before a Holy God and that we cannot make ourself righteous before a Holy God is where spiritual growth begins. Before God we are beggars who without His forgiveness and His righteousness will die and be separated from God for eternity. The Christian life begins with a realization and acceptance that we are poor in spirit because of our sin. For those who admit their sin God gives the gift of heaven in Jesus Christ. One of the great gifts of God is the conviction of sin and the realization that we are helpless and hopeless to get to God on our own. Thank God if He has made you aware of your sin and of your need of His Grace and of His Son Jesus Christ. If you are not aware of your sin before God then ask Him for the gift of the conviction of sin. That conviction of sin will lead you to salvation in Christ and to heaven.

-Christians also need to recognize and accept their need for growth in righteousness. As Christians study the Character of God from the Bible and by the revelation of the Holy Spirit see the flesh at work in them, they will admit to a poverty of spirit and a need for more righteousness in Christ.

-So an awareness of our sin and how we fall short of God’s glory is what begins and continues the process of righteousness before God. Mourning, meekness, and hungering-and-thirsting for righteousness, are heart responses to the recognition of poverty of spirit that results from sin. Mourning, meekness and hungering and thirsting for righteousness are the responses of a heart that is attentive to its spiritual poverty.

-Both the conviction of sin in the unbeliever, and the recognition of a need to be more like Christ in the believer, will lead to mourning the need for righteousness. Mourning the need for righteousness should produce meekness. Meekness is a humble acceptance of who we are before God and a surrender/submission of our life to God. The great mark of meekness is a teachable spirit and a willingness to obey God. This teachable spirit and willingness to obey God leads to the Beatitude we are looking at this morning – a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to have a deep longing and desire to be right with God in order to deepen in fellowship with God and know God.

-The three Beatitudes that follow, verses 7 to 9, are the outward response of a heart filled with righteousness, and the last Beatitude is the world’s response to righteousness.

-Hungering and thirsting for righteousness then is the longing of the person who is mourning their spiritual poverty, has humbled themselves before God, and desires to learn from God how they can be righteous before Him.

-Every sinner who comes to God needs two kinds of righteousness in order to be in right relationship to a Holy God. We need the righteousness of Justification, and we need the righteousness of Sanctification.

-Before we can live a righteous life before God we need to be righteous before God. How can a sinner be righteous before a Holy God? Committing one sin ends any attempt at being righteous before God. We have all committed many sins and cannot be righteous before a Holy God. The fact is that in ourselves we are not righteous but guilty sinners. The Bible also teaches that we are born under God’s condemnation as participants in Adam’s sin. So no action, effort, or attempt by us can make us righteous before a Holy God. We are powerless to be righteous before God.

-If God had not come into the world to save us from our sin, then our story would end with our dying in our sin, separated from God and condemned to hell. This is how the story will end for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ to save them from their sin.

-Praise God that He sent Jesus Christ to earth to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin. When Jesus was on the cross, God took my sin, which separated me from God, and put it on Jesus Christ so that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus for my sin, God forgave me when I asked Him. Once I was forgiven, God took the righteous life of Christ and credited it to me. So, in the sight of a Holy God I am not only forgiven but holy in the righteousness of Christ. God declares me right with Him because Christ died for my sin and I received his righteousness credited to me. Faith is trusting in Christ for my forgiveness and righteousness, and not trying to make myself righteousness before God. To be Justified is God declaring that I am accepted by Him because of the righteousness of Christ that has been credited (imputed) to me.

-If you are a Christian this morning you are righteous before God, you are Justified. You are accepted by God, and will always be accepted by God, and will never be rejected by God, even if you sin. You are accepted as holy before God and will always be accepted as holy before God because of the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus Christ that has been credited to you.

-Justification is not something that is achieved by effort but is a gift from God. Justification is never taken away by God and is a lasting reality before God.

-From this truth of Justification by faith in Jesus Christ the Christian grows in personal righteousness through obedience to God. This process of growth in personal righteousness is called Sanctification (becoming more holy). The process is outlined quite well in Romans 6. We recognize that in our union with the death of Christ we died to sin, and that in union with the resurrection of Christ we are alive unto God. Because we are dead to sin and alive unto God we give the parts of our body as instruments of righteousness to God. Turn to Romans 6 and look at verses 19-22. [Read] The process is >> Offer our body to righteousness >> holiness >> eternal life.

-When we do sin, we are to confess our sin and keep moving forward in obedience to God because we have not lost our acceptance before God but remain Justified, right with God. As we give the parts of our body to God’s use we grow to become more like God in our attitudes, words and actions. We learn to walk in submission to the Spirit. As we see our need for spiritual growth and give ourselves to God, we hunger and thirst to be more like God. We become righteous before God even while God sees us as fully righteous in Christ.

-The promise in this verse is that those who seek for righteousness will be filled with righteousness before God, if they seek to be righteous God’s way and not by their own efforts. The blessings of fellowship with God and the peace, joy and hope of God, come to those who are righteous in the sight of God.

-As a Christian you should be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. If you are not hungering and thirsting for righteousness you need to go back to the beginning of the process outlined in these Beatitudes. You need to get before God and ask Him to show you your sin and how much you need the righteousness of God in your life. When you see your need you will mourn your spiritual poverty, abandon yourself to God, and hunger and thirst and seek for righteousness in Christ. God will meet your need with a greater assurance of your Justification in Christ, and a greater giving of yourself and your body to righteous behaviors in conformity to Christ and walking in the Holy Spirit.

-What a great gift God gives to us when He shows us what we are truly like before Him. As we see our spiritual need we will hunger and thirst for righteousness so that we might draw near to God and know His fellowship and blessings. May God put that hunger and thirst in our hearts.

Communion: Romans 5.1-2; 2 Peter 3.17-18

SERMON OUTLINE

Careful Living in 2010   (Ephesians 5.15)

 Talk that Meets the Need      Ephesians 4.29-30

Every word corrupt out of the mouth of you let not proceed, but if any is good to improvement of the need, in order that it may give grace to the hearing.

                                     Ephesians 4.29   Literal translation

Introduction

-One of the distinguishing marks of humans, who are created in the image of God, is self-consciousness with the ability to speak and express themselves to others and communicate their thoughts and feelings and ideas to each other in words.

-Words are powerful and can hurt or help. James 3.8-10. Proverbs 12.18

-Paul writes often about speech. Ephesians 4.25; 5.4,12,19

Every Word: Corrupt

-Mark of the non-Christian

-Used to describe rotting fruit. Complaining, demoralizing gossip, slander, immoral talk, whining, grumbling, hurts.

-An imitation and partnering with the Devil

Every Word: Good to Meet the Need

-God arranges our conversations

-The person you are speaking with has a need; so do you

-Speak with love as a motive

-Be aware of circumstances and who you are speaking with. Psalm 141.3

Source of Words

-The heart. Matthew 12.33-37 and 15.16-20

-The Mind. Romans 12.1-2

-The Devil and the Flesh

-Feed your mind. Philippians 4.8

-Choose good words that meet needs

Conclusion

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. We do not so much have to concentrate on controlling our speech as concentrate on giving ourselves steadily under the control of the Holy Spirit. Our behavior is different from humanistic ethics because it is in relationship with the Holy Spirit.

SERMON NOTES

Careful Living in 2010   (Ephesians 5.15)

Talk that Meets the Need       Ephesians 4.29-30

-Roof, Roof. Meow. Moo, Moo, Moo. Eeeeeha, Eeeeeha. [Pause]

-Can you understand me now? [Pause]

-One of the distinguishing marks of humans, who are created in the image of God, is self-consciousness with the ability to speak and express themselves to others and communicate their thoughts and feelings and ideas to each other in words.

-The words we speak to each other have power to inspire, encourage, educate, inform, build up and heal. Our words also have power to discourage, misinform, lie, tear down, and deeply hurt. There is remarkable power in the tongue. James writes, “The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (3.8-10) Proverbs tells us that “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (12.18)

-As Paul describes how to live like a Christian he has a lot to say about our speech. In verse 25 Paul has already commanded us not to lie but to tell the truth. In chapter 5 verse 4 we are told that there should be no “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which is out of place, but rather thanksgiving”. Verse 12 says, “it is shameful to even mention what the disobedient do in secret”. (A related thought comes to mind. If we are not even to mention the shameful things done by the disobedient in our conversations should we be watching them on TV?) Verse 19 commands us to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”. One area that we must be very careful about in 2010 is our speech.

-If you take your bulletin you will find at the top of the inside page the Greek text translated word-for-word into English. [Read it]

-You can see that this verse begins with “Every word”. Every word true, and pure, and grace-giving, is a high standard to keep but it is the standard we are striving for as Christians. Do we fail often? Yes. Do we quit or lower the standard? No. We stand fully accepted before God in our justification and through the discipline and guidance of the Holy Spirit we become more like Christ in our speech, which is sanctification. The way you speak is one of the transformations that the Holy Spirit is seeking to work into your life and mine. We are to walk like Christ is this dark and sinful world. [Roger’s testimony]

-This verse pictures the Christian as a person with a mind full of words ready to be spoken. Some of these words will corrupt those they are spoken to, and some words will do good. The words that will corrupt are not to be allowed to proceed out of the mouth, but those that will do good are to be spoken to the other person. As Christians we have the power to control our speech for the good of others and for the Glory of God. If it were not possible to control our tongue then we would never be given this command. We may often fail to keep this command but we must continue to strive that every word of our speech be for the good of others and for the Glory of God.

-Corrupt words are a mark of the non-Christian. Obscenity, blasphemy, lies, exaggerations, hateful and bitter words, constant complaining, prejudice, sexual jokes, gossip, self-exaltation, arguments, slander, this is the common speech of the unbeliever. As Christians our speech must be different, not only true and pure but life giving as well. We must regulate our speech according to God’s Word and not speak to please or conform to the world.

-The words spoken by a Christian are not to corrupt others. This Greek word is used to describe rotting fruit. As a Christian your speech is not to be the rotten apple that spoils the whole basket of apples. You are not to complain and demoralize and rot the unity and positive attitudes in the fellowship of the church. If you have a complaint, then bring your complaint to the leadership and not to fellow members. Do not corrupt others with complaining speech and do not support corruption by listening and agreeing with the complaining words of others. If there is something worth complaining about lets fix it together

-Don’t rot the reputation of others with gossip and slander. What you are saying about the other person may be true, but is it beneficial to them and to others to talk about it behind their back? God has shown you the situation not so you can gossip and slander about it, but so you can pray for them.

-Don’t rot the mind and morality of others by sharing sexually charged talk with them. Don’t rot the mind and morality of others by encouraging them in questionable behaviors.

-Don’t support whiners and grumblers and nit-pickers, and fault finders by listening to them and agreeing with them and don’t corrupt others with that kind of speech. You are a Christian now and that is no longer the way you are to speak. Truth, thanksgiving and encouragement should guide your words

-We can also drive people to corrupt behaviors by deeply hurting them with our words. Words like, “your stupid, dummy, your bad, worthless, ugly, brainless, you will never amount to anything, retard, your nuts” do not build up but tear down and drive people to discouragement and corrupt behaviors. We need to be careful of the effect of every word that proceeds from our mouth.

-Make sure that you are not imitating the Devil and partnering with him by corrupting others with your speech. The Devil’s corrupting words brought the whole human race into sin and led to the devastation in the world that we see today. Instead our speech should reflect the Goodness and the Glory of God as we build others up and give them the Grace of God with the words that we speak to them. Words have great power. Our lips must be instruments of God.

-What we are to speak is “what is helpful for building others up according to their needs”. Speech of this kind requires not only that we speak what is true and pure but also that we know the needs of the person that we are speaking with. This is speech under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. Start imagining every encounter you have with another person as arranged of God and look to the Holy Spirit to direct your words in that encounter.

-Every person you and I meet has a need for more of God in their life. Some need salvation while others need to grow in the Grace of God. As we talk with a person we may get to know their need and as the Holy Spirit leads we can speak more specifically to their need. The other person may not want what God is presenting through you for their need but that is not your problem.

-God may arrange your next conversation to meet your need. We need to be teachable as well as willing to try and meet the needs of others. Through our conversations together we are to build one another up in love.

-Don’t be one of those Christians who deliver a monologue and call it a conversation. You may feel a lot better after the so-called conversation but have you built the other person up and delivered the grace of God to their need, or has your deeper need for God been touched?

-The talk in this verse is Christian-love talk because it is about the other person and about God’s purpose and plan for them through their conversation with you. This is not self-centered talk or self-on-display talk but talk with God’s glory in mind. Self-satisfaction is not the purpose here. There is an exchange of God’s Grace in the whole transaction because both are speaking under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. We will find that as we go through all of these behaviors that Paul presents for the Christian walk that love is always the motive because a Christian is to walk in love.

-Where do the corrupt words or the good words that are in our mind, ready to be spoken, come from? Jesus helps us in our thinking here with one of His teachings in Matthew 12.33-37 and 15.16-20 [Read].

-They come from our heart. Do you have a heart that is born again and belongs to God? Do you desire in your heart to please and Glorify God? Your speech begins with the spiritual condition of your heart. Proverbs 4.23 tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”.

-Then comes the mind. Romans 12.1-2 [Read].

-Are you renewing your mind by reading and thinking on the Word of God each day? What does your mind dwell on during the day? Do you imitate those around you in your thinking and speech? How you think will be how you speak. Deliberately make choices to renew your mind. Pursue godly thinking. How you think will show in your speech. Philippians 4.8 [Read].

-The Devil and the flesh can put corrupt thoughts into your mind but you do not have to speak them out or act on them. In Christ you are free from the power of sin and the flesh and the Devil. Toss those thoughts into the trash.

-We need to know what words to speak out. Knowing what words to speak comes by perceiving our circumstances and looking to the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to be aware of our circumstances and of the people we are going to speak with. We need to listen to both those we are speaking with and to the Holy Spirit so we can answer with words that build up and minister grace

-David’s prayer in Psalm 141.3 is a good one to pray often, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips”.

-In verse 27 Paul warns the people of God not to give a foothold to the Devil by holding onto bitterness. Now in verse 30 Paul warns the people of God not to grieve the Holy Spirit by letting corrupting talk proceed out of their mouth. We will focus more on grieving the Holy Spirit on the last Sunday of July. I am going to end this morning by sharing how it feels to grieve the Holy Spirit and what to do when that happens.

-You have been busy all day under stressful circumstances and as the day is ending you begin a conversation with someone. During the conversation you say something and you sense a change take place. A coldness comes over the conversation. The open reception you first received evaporates into the air. The conversation turns to the weather and soon comes to an end. Most important of all you sense a loss of energy, a deflation in the pit of your stomach, a non-physical ache comes over you, there is a sense of emptiness and heaviness. You realize that you have said something wrong. A joke that has hurt, a misplaced accusation, a brushing off of some serious matter that took a lot of courage for that person to speak, an inappropriate remark, a hurried agitation that says you are being inconvenienced.

-If the person you are speaking with is being convicted of sin through your conversation they might have the same reaction toward you but you will not feel the grieving of the Spirit but rather the mercy and grace of the Spirit for them.

-The only possible reaction to such a grieving of the Spirit is to confess our grieving of the Spirit and ask God for forgiveness and then to ask the other person for forgiveness as well. Asking forgiveness will restore fellowship with the Spirit at once but not necessarily your fellowship with the other person. That may take some time.

-It is very important to continue to walk in the Holy Spirit even when stressful circumstances try to take control of our spirits during the day. We do not so much have to concentrate on controlling our speech as concentrate on keeping ourselves constantly under the control of the Holy Spirit. All these directions that Paul is giving us for Christian behavior only differ from other religious behaviors or humanistic codes of ethics because they are the result of a relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. These behaviors are the result of a life made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit and then placed under the discipline and guidance of the Holy Spirit. So the way you speak is another expression of your living relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. Make sure you feed your mind on God’s Word each day and concentrate on walking in the Spirit every day in 2010. How you speak will be part of that Holy Spirit walk.

SERMON OUTLINE

Not Stealing But Sharing      Ephesians 4.28

Introduction

-Paul is writing this list of moral commands to the Ephesian believers to point out to them how to walk like a Christian.

-Moral behavior is based on the truth of their new life in Christ. (verses 17-24)

-Not just heaven but a transformed life that expresses the character of God in this world.

-The ten prohibitions become the ten promises because of the New Covenant. (Charles Price)

Stealing

-Stealing is taking something that is not yours and using it and calling it your own.

-Ways that we can steal.

-Motive of selfishness and laziness behind stealing.

-Consequences of stealing.

-Most important reason not to steal. God’s character.

Working

-Hard work. Greek word used and physical labor.

-2 Thessalonians 3.6-15

-Instruments of righteousness. Romans 6.11-14, 19

-God purpose for man to work as God works.

Sharing

-Not just to live but also to give.

-Motivation away from selfishness and greed.

-“Trilateral” – “Gain all you can; Save all you can; Give all you can”. John Wesley

Spiritual Transformation

-2 Corinthians 5.17. New but not perfect in all details.

-The need for teaching and spiritual discipline.

-Put off the old life and put on the new life. Vs 22-24

Conclusion

New life in Christ and obedience to God’s Word = transformation into Christ-likeness. Be very careful how you walk in 2010.

SERMON NOTES

Careful Living in 2010   (Ephesians 5.15)

Not Stealing But Sharing        Ephesians 4.17-28

-Paul is writing this list of moral commands to the Ephesian believers to point out to them how to walk like a Christian. In verses 17 to 24, Paul reminded the Christians in the Ephesian church that they were once sinners who were futile in their thinking, darkened in their understanding, hardened in their heart and insensitive in their conscience toward God. They were separated from the life of God and were without hope and without God in the world.

-Paul then reminded them that through the Gospel they came to know Christ. They were taught that in union with the death of Christ they died to sin, and in union with the resurrection of Christ they were raised to a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul then makes it emphatically clear to them that the new life they now have requires a new walk. In these verses Paul is outlining that new walk.

-No more lying and walking in the lie of this world, but living in truth and speaking the truth. No more personal anger and bitterness, but more righteous anger against sin and evil. Then in verse 28 Paul instructs them that they are no more to steal but rather they are to work with the purpose of having something to share with those in need.

-I find in this verse an instructive picture of the purpose of God in saving me. Focus with me for a few moments on the contrast that is presented in this verse. Here is a person whose regular walk in life is one of stealing but who has come to know Christ. What does God require of them now? God requires that they no longer steal but work, doing something useful with their hands in order to provide for themselves.

-The verse goes even beyond this. Not only are they to work to provide for themselves, they are also to work with the purpose of having something to share with those in need. Working to share with those in need is a much higher standard than the world expects. The world frowns on stealing and promotes working for a living, but to work in order to have something to give to others is over the top.

-The command not to steal but to work in order to share with others teaches me that the purpose of God in salvation is not just to get us to heaven but to transform our daily walk from selfish sin, to a walk of sacrificing love that expresses the character of God. God has called me to salvation in order to put Himself on display through my thoughts, attitudes, and actions. If I claim to be a Christian and am claiming to belong to Christ, I need to live in a way that demonstrates Christ. Just as Christ expressed the image of God to humanity when He walked on earth, so my life is to express the character of Christ to others. The point here is that a true Christian must live a Christ-like life because God has transformed them by His power and given them the Holy Spirit. That is why Paul insists that we no longer walk in the old ways but walk in new ways.

-Stealing is a violation of the 8^th commandment. “You shall not steal”. A fellow pastor mentioned that he heard Charles Price from the People’s Church preach that the prohibitions of the Ten Commandments become promises to the born-again Christian. Let me read to you the Ten Commandments as promises from God because of the transforming work of His Spirit within us. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. You shall keep the Sabbath. You shall honor your father and mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not covet.” Because we are new people in Christ we shall no longer live in sin. Even more than keeping the negative aspect of these commands, Christians fulfill the positive side of these commands with a mind and heart motivated by love to God and to others.

-God’s promise in the OT was that with the coming of the New Covenant God would put the commandments in our minds and write them on our hearts. We are no longer commanded externally but are compelled by the life of God within us which fulfills all God’s commands by faith expressing itself through love.

-Stealing is taking something that is not yours and using it and calling it your own. Stealing is still a common practice today and was even more widespread in Paul’s day. There are many ways to steal, some of which may not even be considered as stealing by the world we live in but is still stealing before God.

-We steal from God when we do not use our lives to worship Him and serve Him. We are stealing because we are taking our time, gifts and resources, which all belong to God and are using them as if they belong to us.

-We steal from God and from others when we sin. We are stealing because we are robbing God of His Glory and we are robbing others of respect and service and love.

-Many of us violate copyright laws and steal from musicians and writers and speakers by making copies of things and keeping them as our own when we do not have the originals.

-We may be stealing time and material from our work by not giving a full day’s work and by taking stuff home that is not ours. As a Christian I was stealing for many years from General Motors when I slept on the midnight shift. That was one of the reasons I was glad to leave.

-When you knew you were given too much change by the cashier, did you keep it? Then you were stealing.

-Have you owed money to someone for a long time and do not intend to pay it back? You are stealing from that person.

-Have you sold a car without disclosing a major problem to the buyer? Or sold an inferior item for a high price? That is stealing.

-Here is one to think about. Debt that is the result of our desire to have what we want now even though it is beyond our budget, steals from God and from our family the future that God has planned for us.

-The motive behind stealing is selfishness and laziness. I want to fulfill my desires without the effort that would be required to get what I want.

-Stealing disrespects other people and does not value their hard work. Stealing hardens the conscience, and reinforces selfishness and laziness. Stealing can lead to a criminal record, a bad reputation, low-esteem, and poverty.

-Apart from all the negative consequences of stealing, the most important thing about stealing is that it does not reflect the character of God and the person of Jesus Christ. So the Word of God says to the Christian “You must steal no more”. Stop all stealing. For most of us here the command not to steal anymore will be very specific to one or two things. In response to this sermon I had to remove two songs from my mp3 because I did not own the originals.

-As Christians we are to do useful work with our hands. Paul emphasizes in two ways that we are to give ourselves wholeheartedly to our daily work. First of all the Greek word Paul uses for work means to labor with strenuous effort, to toil. It is the word used by Peter to describe a night of fishing without success, “Master we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything”. Second, Paul mentions working with our hands. Physical labor is hard work. We are to give ourselves wholeheartedly as unto the Lord in our daily work.

-Christian teaching on work in the NT is practical teaching. Listen as I read 2 Thessalonians 3.6-15. [Read]

-So work hard at what God has given you to do and if you want something then work for it.

-The mention of working with our hands in this verse reminds me of Romans 6.11-14, 19 [Read]

-The hands of the Ephesians were once instruments of sin and wickedness as they were stealing, but now that they have come to know Christ, their hands are to become instruments of obedience and righteousness by hard work, showing the transformation of God into the image of Christ.

-God created man to work. In Genesis chapter 1 we see God at work in creation. Then in chapter 2, before man fell into sin, God created man in His image and planted a garden and “put man in the Garden to work it and take care of it” (2.15). After Adam’s sin God cursed the ground and man’s work to provide for himself increased. God at the same time worked in the redemption of mankind. In the new kingdom when man is fully redeemed, I believe he will continue to enjoy work, even as God has worked to create a new heaven and earth. God works and it is God’s purpose for man to work and when we work we fulfill our function and God’s purpose for us.

-This positive view of work as God’s purpose and as giving glory to God is what has commonly been called the Protestant work ethic. Hard and honest work honors God and brings prosperity.

-One motive that Paul gives for work is sharing with those in need. We are to provide for ourselves and for our families but we are also to work to give to those in need. I rejoice that we as a church family are willing to give at least 10% of all we receive to missions. We are giving toward the building of the kingdom of God all over the world. Paul writes “work that you may have something to share with those in need”.

-God asks His people to give to Him and to others because He knows our tendency is to greed and to selfishness. When we work with the motive that we are going to help someone in need, it motivates us to think beyond ourselves and not just about ourselves. John Wesley taught his converts what he called the “Trilateral” – “Gain all you can; Save all you can; Give all you can”.

-Remember that Paul is writing to a local church which he is encouraging in love and unity for the sake of their Gospel witness in the city of Ephesus. A fellowship of thieves does not promote love and unity, but a fellowship of hard working givers that love Jesus and want to obey Him is powerful, and that is what Paul wants to promote.

-I want to close with a short teaching on how God transforms sinners into saints. In 2 Corinthians 5.17 we read, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The KJV says, “behold, all things are become new.” When a person sees their sin and chooses to turn from their sin and calls upon God to save them in Jesus Christ, a supernatural change takes place in them. The Holy Spirit comes to live in the believer and brings new spiritual life, a desire for holiness, spiritual power over sin, a longing for God’s Word, love, and a new outlook on life. But that does not mean that the person is perfect in every detail of life. The person is truly a new creation with new spiritual life and direction but that life still needs to be taught and disciplined in how to walk as a Christian. Sinful habits, old thought patterns, emotional hurts, learned protective behaviors, reactive anger, fabricated reputations, prejudices, bitter resentments, trust and control issues. All these things and many others still remain in the new life. That is why Paul is giving these instructions to Christians. Paul is not giving them direction on how to become a Christian but how a person who has become a Christian should now chose the way they walk. Spiritual transformation is the result of the new birth first and then the application of Bible truth to the life. As the new Christian spends time with God and studying God’s Word the old life begins to fall away and the new walk begins to take over. Choices need to be made, and disciplines needs to be applied, and perseverance is required to become what God has made us new creatures to be. As Paul writes in verses 22-23, believers are to put off the old life and put on the new life. Paul compares the Christian’s new walk to removing their dirty clothes and putting on a new suit of clothes appropriate to their new status in Christ.

-So recognize what God has put into you through the new birth and then recognize what God is calling you to change in your life, and let both the Holy Spirit’s power in you and your obedience to the Word of God work the transformation that will Glorify God in your Christian walk.

-If you are truly a new person in Christ, then learn to walk in that new life. Be very careful how you walk in 2010.

SERMON OUTLINE

Blessed Are the Meek      Matthew 5.5

Introduction

The Beatitudes describe the true Christian, both in his relationship to God and in his relationship to others, and makes the promise that the true Christian will be blessed.

Meekness Is Not Weakness

-Important Christian attitude and lacking in the Church.

-Marked godly men and women throughout the Bible.

-An attitude we are to pursue. 1 Timothy 6.11

-Not valued by the world or the Church.

Meekness Is Not…

1) Natural temperament.

2) Peace-at-any-price, compromise, no convictions.

3) Only outward behavior, the practice of self-control.

Meekness Is …

1) A realistic understanding and acceptance of myself before God. Poor in spirit, mourn over sin, and need God.

2) Trust in God’s character and promises. Submission, surrender, dependence.

Meekness Looks Like …

1) Absence of pride, self-glory, self-seeking, and claim to rights. No defensive arguing and quarrelsome behavior. Humility, gratefulness, confidence and rest in God. Teachable.

2) Abandonment, submission and dependence on God. Not self-seeking but leaving the present and future with God. Entrusting myself to God.

3) Willing and able to be used of God by the Spirit.

Meekness Becomes A Reality In Us As …

1) We ask God for help.

2) Humbly accept what we really are before God.

3) Find out who we are in Christ.

4) Give ourselves completely to God and submit to Him

5) We walk in meekness.

Conclusion

The meek are blessed by being meek and will also inherit the earth and much more. Walk in meekness in the Spirit. Be humble, gentle and teachable.

SERMON NOTES

Blessed Are the Meek                             Matthew 5.5      

 -The Beatitudes describe the true Christian, both in his relationship to God and in his relationship to others, and makes the promise that the true Christian will be blessed.

 -Poor in spirit describes as blessed those who have been convicted of sin and have seen the need for God’s forgiveness. The Christian life begins with conviction of sin and God’s forgiveness. We must begin the Christian life with an understanding of our need for spiritual life in Jesus Christ.

-The Christian who mourns over sin before a Holy God is blessed with God’s comfort. We are to mourn our own sin and the effect of sin on others. We are to mourn sin’s distortion of the Glory of God. We are to mourn sin in the church and expose it. True Christians mourn over sin because they know that God is Holy. Their one desire is to be holy as He is Holy.

-The third beatitude, and the one we will be studying today, is “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”. I believe meekness is one of the most important attitudes that we are to have as Christians, and that meekness is seriously lacking and needs to be emphasized and lived out in the fellowship of the local church. All truly godly and great men and women of God have been meek. Abraham, Moses, David, Gideon, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter, Paul, James, and Jesus. A meek Christian is a beautiful and attractive Christian. A meek Christian is an approachable Christian. A meek Christian is a fruitful Christian, because of what they have learned in the process of becoming meek.

-Meekness is an attitude we are commanded to pursue and is required if we want to be blessed of God. My study of meekness this week has given me a hunger to know more about this important attitude and how it is to work in my life. I pray you will have the same hunger by the end of this service. (1 Timothy 6.11)

-The world we live in, and even many Christians, are not excited about meekness because meekness is looked upon as weakness. Meekness is opposite to what the world looks for and expects in its leaders and in people. Meekness is even frowned upon by Christians, mostly because it is not understood. Because we belong to God and live God’s way, meekness should excite us and be the way we seek to live. We are different from the world. We should think differently than the world. We should act differently than the world acts. We should be meek.

-The Jews were not looking for a meek Messiah but one with might and power, who would conquer Rome and bring freedom and usher in God’s kingdom. The Greeks did not admire meekness but manliness, assertiveness, and commanding arguments. Meek is not attractive to the world but meek is precious to God and is blessed of God.

-The Church today does not place a great deal of emphasis on meekness. We glory in powerful organizations, successful programs, political lobby groups, expensive professional productions, creative marketing. It is easy for us to focus on our own resources, industry, intelligence, ingenuity, and energy to reach the goals that we have set for success. We glory in numbers, buildings, accomplishments, achievements. We do most of this without meekness and in the end God is not glorified. What has been built will not produce eternal fruit. Likeness to Jesus Christ will not be the result. Meekness is absolutely essential to bringing Glory to God in our personal life and in the local church.

-What is meekness? Let me begin with what meekness is not.

1) Biblical meekness is not natural temperament. Some people are born mild and tender-hearted. Some people are naturally shy, and quiet, and passive, and gentle and easy-going. They are just born nice people. They may be described as meek but they are not Biblically meek.

2) Biblical meekness is not weakness. Biblical meekness is not a peace-at-any-price approach to difficulties and circumstances. Biblical meekness is not compromise with the truth of the Bible. Biblical meekness is not a lack of conviction or an unwillingness to stand up for convictions. Biblical meekness is strength and conviction under God’s control.

-Biblical meekness is often pictured as a wild horse that has been trained. Meekness is strength under control. Many of the meek men in the Bible were by temperament militant, assertive, and explosive but came under the discipline of God and submitted themselves to God’s control and God’s will.

3) Biblical meekness is not only outward behavior. Biblical meekness is more than great self-control. Biblical meekness is a heart and mind that has come under the control of God’s Spirit and then expresses meekness in action.

-So what is Biblical meekness? Biblical meekness is the result of acknowledging and accepting who I am before God, and then entrusting myself to the character and promises of God.

1) Biblical meekness is first of all the attitude and actions that come from a realistic understanding of myself as a sinner before God, who has been forgiven and accepted by God in Christ. Biblical meekness begins and grows as I see who I truly am before God and am willing to believe and accept God’s assessment of me. When I learn and agree with God that I am nothing before Him, and live in that reality, meekness can begin and grow. When I truly accept that I am not all that much better than those around me, there is hope for Biblical meekness. Meekness is seeing and accepting that I am poor in spirit and that I need God in my life.

2) Biblical meekness is secondly the attitude and actions that come from a strong trust in God’s character and promises for my life and my future. When the time comes for defending myself, for establishing my own goals, for self-advancement, for the exercise of my rights, for keeping my schedule, for having plans work out my way, Biblical meekness looks to God’s will and to God’s strength for direction and response.

-The Biblically meek know who they are before God and in Christ, and have placed their life at God’s disposal, and under God’s direction and power no matter what the cost. Meekness is living in God’s reality and under God’s control by trusting and obeying God.

-What do the meek look like?

1) There is an authentic absence of pride, self-glory, self-seeking, and claiming of rights in the meek. There is no defensive arguing and quarrelsome behavior. What we find in the meek is humility and gratefulness for what they are and have in Christ. We find gentleness, acceptance, approachability, and patience, that reflects the reality of being poor in spirit and forgiven of God. We find a confidence in God’s control over all circumstances, and a rest in God’s Love and Goodness. The meek are not fake and defensive, but humble and gentle because they know who they are before God and who they are in Christ, and are under God’s control and live in God’s strength.

-The most important characteristic of the meek is that they are teachable people. I find a teachable spirit rare in the church today. God’s people are so touchy and reactive. They are over sensitive, like a person with a major sunburn over his entire body. I generally find that Christians are unwilling to be corrected and kick back at rebuke. Whether the correction and rebuke is required and done properly is not the point. A teachable attitude is the point. This beatitude of meekness is greatly needed in the church so that we can be more teachable and grow because we are teachable.

-A man was once slandered in a London newspaper and Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher, went to his defense. At another time it was Spurgeon who was criticized in the newspaper and he made no response. Someone asked Spurgeon what he was going to do about the criticism directed toward him. He said he was going to spend time before God to see if the criticism was true and make whatever correction was needed. That is meekness with the characteristic of teachability.

2) The meek person is marked with abandonment to God, dependence on God, and submission to the will of God. Personal desires, goals, physical comfort, worldly goods, ambition, reputation, all of life and all the future is laid down at the feet of Jesus for His use and for His Glory. The meek person does not fight for position, reputation, rights, status, financial gain, but leaves his life in God’s hands. The meek person is faithful to God’s character and to God’s call and leaves the results with God, whatever the results may be.

3) Finally the meek person is willing and able to stand up for God and speak God’s words when directed by the Spirit of God, even if he stands alone, because he stands with God. The meek person does not react to circumstances and situations and trials out of temperament but by the Spirit of God, sometimes going against his natural temperament. The meek are under God’s control and live for God’s Glory.

-As people who profess to be Christians we need to be meek. We cannot produce meekness but we can walk in the Spirit and let the fruit of meekness become real in us. Let me close with some steps to this beautiful and attractive meekness in our life.

1) Ask God to help you to be meek. Ask for willingness to submit to Him. Ask for courage to face the trials needed to bring the fruit of meekness.

2) Humbly accept what you are really like as God reveals to you what you are like in His sight and in the sight of others.

3) Find out who you are in Christ and accept that perception of yourself and live from that reality.

4) Give your goals, rights, desires, plans, reputation, work, goods, life, to God. Submit to God, learn to be dependent on God, and let God work out your life. Stop working life out for yourself and by yourself. Be obedient and keep looking up.

5) Be blessed in your meekness.

-Jesus said that the meek will inherit the earth. Jesus is saying, “give yourself and all you have completely to me and you will get the earth in return”. The meek are submitted to Christ and satisfied with Christ, and in Christ have all things. The meek are blessed inwardly and will one day judge the world and be heirs of God with Christ for all eternity. The meek will inherit the earth and much more than the earth. Seek then to be meek so that you will be teachable, humble, gentle, and lovingly approachable – a powerful tool in the hands of God, reflecting the person of Christ to all around you. The joy of meekness is a reward in itself. The inheritance of the earth is just an extra bonus.