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MARCH 6, 2005
“TWO APPOINTMENTS WE MUST KEEP”
SCRIPTURE READING:
REVELATION 20:11-15
SCRIPTURE TEXT: John 16:8
(NLT) And
when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God's
righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment:
INTRO: There
are two appointments that we will all meet, death and judgment.
People have spent
great amounts of money and effort trying to delay or avoid the first
but not matter how rich they are, death comes to each of us.
For a few there
is a warning of the coming of death and they have a period of time
to prepare.
But for most of
us we have no idea when death will come, and when death does comes
there is little or no time to prepare.
There are those
who have prepared for death:
v
They have made out a will
v
They have purchase a burial plot
v
They have planned their own funeral service
These are some of
the physical preparation we can do for death but what about
spiritual preparation for death and the judgment that follows?
This is why the
Holy Spirit seeks to convince and convict men and women of sin, the
Righteousness of Christ and the coming judgment.
He wants us to
prepare ourselves for death and the judgment that follows.
I. DEATH AND
JUDGMENT ARE THE PENALTIES OF SIN.
Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die.
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity
of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him,
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Bible
tells us that we are all under the same sentence of death and
judgment because we have all sinned.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
If we are all under the sentence of death what about the
Scripture found in JOHN 11:26 And whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
If those who believe in Jesus never die, why have so many
Christians died including all the Apostles?
There are two different deaths:
v
Physical death that all of us will experience
except for those who are Believers and alive at the Second Coming of
Christ.
v
Spiritual death that is eternal separation from
God.
REVELATION 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death.
REVELATION 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The first death precedes the judgment the second death
follows the judgment.
As there are two deaths there are also two resurrections:
v
The resurrections of the righteousness.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
Revelation 20:4-5
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given
unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of
the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection.
v
The resurrection of the ungodly.
Revelation 20:11-13
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found
no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works.
There are two deaths, there are two resurrections and
there are two judgments.
v
The Judgment Seat of Christ
NOTE: This is where all the Believers will stand before
Christ and give account for what they have done in the Christian
life.
MATTHEW 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all
nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats:
ROMANS 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why
dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:10 For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done
in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or
bad.
NOTE: At the Judgment Seat of Christ we will not lose our
salvation but we will lose our rewards.
I do not want God disappointed in me.
v
The Great White Throne Judgment.
Revelation 20:11-15
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found
no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to
their works. And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire.
NOTE: Jesus has experienced both death and the judgment of
sin for us so that we no longer have to fear either.
The Holy Spirit seeks to convince sinful
man of this and to turn fallen man away from the Great White Throne
Judgment and the Second Death.
ROMANS 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was
weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.
GALATIANS 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree:
CONCLUSION: The purpose of the Holy Spirit convincing us of
sin, righteousness and judgment is not to condemn us but rather to
turn us away from sin and to Jesus Christ.
May the Holy Spirit continue to convict us that we might
seek to live a life that is pleasing to God.
MARCH 13, 2005
“WHERE
DO WE GO FROM HERE?”
SCRIPTURE READING:
JOHN 16:7-15
SCRIPTURE TEXT: JOHN 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come.
INTRO: Our church is at a crossroad; we must decide what we
are going to do.
“If we
keep doing what we have been doing, we will keep getting the same
results we have been getting.”
If we want
to achieve different results than what we are receiving we must make
changes, but what are the changes we need to make.
It is very
difficult for us to accept change unless we are the one who is
initiating the change.
Change will
almost always produce conflict.
Conflict if
handled properly will produce positive growth, if handled improperly
it will produce negative results.
Growth will
produce change.
This will happen
in our personal Christian life and in the life of our church.
But what changes
do we need to make and how will we know how to make them?
Jesus has
sent us the Holy Spirit to act as our guide.
To be guided by
the Holy Spirit three things must take place:
- We must be
willing to be guided and we must seek His guidance.
- We must be
willing to walk by faith and not depend upon our own
understanding.
- We must be
obedient to His directions.
I. WE MUST SEE
THE NEED TO BE GUIDED.
NOTE: There
are many Christians who are not being guided by the Holy Spirit
because they have not seen the need nor do they have a desire for
His guidance.
“It is easier to
serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because
then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense,
covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You
may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective,
and with have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call
of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the
memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on
to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the
basis of common sense.”
Either the Spirit
of God, the Holy Spirit, is guiding us or the spirit of Satan is
guiding us.
Satan gets us to
believe that we are making the decisions but he is behind the scene
pulling the strings.
Proverbs 14:12, 16:25 (niv)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the
end it leads to death.
The lack of an
unwillingness to grow may produce a contented Christian life but it
will never produce a victorious Christian life.
We must
all seek God’s plan for our own personal life and the life of our
Church.
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish…
II. WE MUST WALK
BY FAITH.
Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In
all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord,
and depart from evil.
NOTE: It is
much easier to walk by sight than to walk by faith.
“The certainty that I do not know
that is the secret of going with Jesus.”
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong unto the Lord
our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to
our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
If we wait until we can comprehend all the answers and have a
perfect understanding of the solution, we are not dependent upon God
but are rely on ourselves.
A. WE CAN TRUST THE HOLY SPIRIT.
JOHN 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew
you things to come.
v
He is the Spirit of Truth
v
He will guide us into Truth
v
He will not speak of Himself
v
He will only speak what He is told to say
v
He will reveal things to come
B. WE CAN HEAR AND RECOGNIZE HIS VOICE.
JOHN 10:2-5, 27-28 But He that entereth in by the door is
the shepherd of the sheep.
To
Him the Porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice: and He calleth
His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
And
when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the
sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.
And
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from Him: for they
know not the voice of strangers.
My sheep hear My
voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
and
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of My hand.
v
We must have a desire to hear the voice of the Holy
Spirit.
There are several time Jesus said, “He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
NOTE: We
must seek God with our whole heart wanting His will above our own.
JEREMIAH 29:11-13 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for
you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and
come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and
find me when you seek me with all your heart.
III. WE MUST OBEY HIM.
NOTE: There are three things involved in a miracle:
v
There must be a need we cannot meet.
v
We must believe in the power of God.
v
We must obey His directions.
ILL: The widow and the pot of oil. II KINGS 4:1-7
NOTE: There was nothing she could do to meet the need in
herself.
ILL: The axe head that floated. II KINGS 6:1-7
NOTE: They need a bigger building, they began to work but
they could do nothing about the axe head.
God will never do for us what we can do for ourselves but He
delights in doing for us what we are unable to do for ourselves.
The Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years
because the failed to obey and trust God.
The secret of knowing God’s will is found in knowing God.
CONCLUSION: Leading Congregational Change. Pg. 21 ph
3
“I know some of you expect me
to have come with a program or an agenda to turn the church around.
I want to tell you as clearly as I can that the only agenda I have
for now is to repeatedly call us back into the presence of God.
Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying – I firmly believe God has a plan
for us. But I want us to be sure that the plan we commit to is
God’s not ours. I don’t know when or how He will reveal that plan.
Until He makes it clear, I want to ask you as leaders in Trinity
Church to join me in calling the rest of this body of Christ back to
its first love.”
MARCH
20, 2005
“WHO
IS YOUR TEACHER?”
SCRIPTURE READING:
I JOHN 2:18-29
SCRIPTURE TEXT:
1 John 2:27
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and
he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is
true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is
true—it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught you, and
continue to live in Christ.
INTRO: There
are many Christians who faith is Second Hand Faith.
Our relationship
to God is based on what we believe and what we believe is based on
what we have been taught.
Who has taught
you what you believe?
Have you been
taught the things of God by?
v
Your parents
v
Your church
v
Your pastor
All these are
good to provide us with information.
But the Holy
Ghost must teach what we accept and believe.
JOHN 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you.
Man’s teaching
at its best if flawed.
v
By his education
v
By his likes and dislikes
v
By his experiences
v
By his environment
v
By his personality
v
By his own relationship with God
Does that mean
that God cannot use man?
Ephesians 4:11-16
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth
be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in
the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love.
How do we know when it is the teaching of man or the teaching of
the Holy Spirit?
There must be some sort of guide or reference that we can depend
on to show to us the difference.
It is the Word of God, the Bible.
While the teaching of man may come in contradiction of the Word
of God, the teaching of the Holy Spirit never will.
This is where so many Christian come into difficulties; they fail
to study the Word of God to see if the teaching they are receiving
lines up with God’s Word.
ACTS 17:11 These were more noble than those in
Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of
mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were
so.
I. THERE ARE
MANY FALSE TEACHERS AND TEACHING.
MATTHEW 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
2 CORINTHIANS 11:13-15 For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also
be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works.
NOTE: False
teachers put their own ambition and personal ideas above the truth.
1 TIMOTHY 1:7 Wanting to be teachers of the Law, even
though they do not understand either what they are saying or the
matters about which they make confident assertions.
There are teachings that may be false but
hold no eternal value or affect our relationship with God
ILL: In 1650, Archbishop James Ussher calculated that the
world was created in 4004 B. C. A few years later, John
Lightfoot calculated that Adam was created on October 23 at 9:00 am.
We need to be very careful with those who
teach things as God’s truths that are not founded on the Word of God
even if they don’t effect our salvation or relationship with God.
There are other false teachings that DO affect our
salvation and relationship with God.
These teachings
deal with Who God is and Who Jesus Christ is:
v
They deny the existence of God
v
They deny the attributes of God
v
They deny the deity of Jesus Christ
v
They deny that Jesus is the Son of God
v
They deny His death and resurrection
v
They deny His second coming
v
They deny the Holy Spirit and His role in the
Christians life
v
They deny the infallibility of the Word of God
1 Timothy 4:1-2
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron;
2 PETER 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
NOTE: These
kind of teachers we must shun at all cost.
Jeremiah 50:6
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to
go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they
have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting
place.
II. THERE ARE
THOSE WHO DESIRE TO LISTEN TO FALSE TEACHERS
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the
truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the
end thereof?
Jeremiah 2:13
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water.
NOTE: They
only want to here things that make them feel good. They do not want
to hear about:
v
Sin
v
Righteousness
v
Judgment
v
Christian responsibilities
The
teachings of man will lead us to death.
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death.
The Holy Spirit must be our teacher because we cannot rely on the
reasoning of man.
PROVERBS 26:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
III. TO HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT AS OUR TEACHER WE
MUST A
TEACHABLE SPIRIT.
NOTE: God
desires to lead us.
PSALM 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way
which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
NOTE: In
order to be led by the Holy Spirit we must have a hunger and desire
to be led by Him.
PSALM 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O Lord;
teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou
art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
PSALM 143:10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God:
thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
NOTE: The Christian walk is difficult at best.
There are times when God will make the way plain as He told Paul
of the things that he must suffer.
Other times, like Abraham, our walk is a daily walk by faith not
knowing where we are going.
CONCLUSION:
Are we willing to walk by faith or do we insist that God lay
everything out plainly for us?
Romans 8:14 For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
I would rather be led by the Holy Spirit
in a walk of faith then by the hand of man in a walk by sight.
EASTER
SUNDAY
MARCH
27, 2005
“WHO
NEEDS A MESSIAH?”
SCRIPTURE READING: I
CORINTHIANS 15:1-23
SCRIPTURE TEXT:
JOB 14:14
If a man die, shall he live again?
INTRO: “Who needs
a Messiah?” The answer if found in the resurrection.
If there
is no life after death then there is no need of a Messiah.
1 Corinthians 15:13-14
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and
your faith is also vain…If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.
It is how we
answer the question, “Is there life after death”, that determines if
we believe we need a Messiah.
Jesus’
resurrection shows to us that we need a Messiah.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment:
I. THERE ARE THOSE WHO CLAIM THEY DON’T
NEED A MESSIAH.
A.
BECAUSE THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE.
ISAIAH 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
ROMANS 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God;
1 JOHN 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
B.
BECAUSE THEY CAN FIX IT THEMSELVES
Proverbs 20:9
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away.
II. THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY THEY HAVE SINNED
TO GREATLY FOR A
MESSIAH.
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Romans 10:13-17
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they
hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
But they have
not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed
our report? So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
There are none too
righteousness that they do not need a Messiah and there are none so
sinful that Jesus Christ the Messiah cannot save them.
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