Focus 2024 - Part 3 - Who are you living for?

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 21st 2024  by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. ( Sorry there is no sermon recording for this message)

WHO ARE YOU LIVING FOR – Part 3

Matt 16:13 - When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. This is the greatest question you can be asked, and your answer will determine your future. This answer can only come by revelation.

1.  The Greatest Question and the Greatest Confession

Matt16:17 - 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

At the end of time ( Rev20:7-10) we see the destiny of Satan and all who follow him.

Rev20:7-10 - 7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

V11. When Jesus came on the Earth there was no place for Him to be born. But at the end of time, we are told that Earth and sky will flee from His presence and both the great and small will stand before Him.

Revelation 20:11 - Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

Today in our courts evil people can get away with murder but NOT on that Day. We are all guilty. Only those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be thrown in the lake of fire. But those who have put their trust in Jesus will have their names written in the Lambs Book of Life! We cannot guarantee the number of days we live therefore today is the day of salvation!

2.  The Greatest Example

Jesus was the greatest example that ever lived! Heaven is an amazing place and that is what He left to come to Earth to identify with us. He came poor, homeless and then served and suffered a cruel death. At the CROSS he defeated Satan.

Heb 2:14-15 tells us how he defeated Satan

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Col2:14 tells us that He cancelled our debts and our sins were paid for.

 14 having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

2 Cor 5:21 His good deeds have been credited to us. His righteousness has been given to us.

God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

3.  The Greatest Commitment

Jesus asks each of us to make a choice. 

Matt 16:24 - Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Luke 14:25-26 - 25 Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

Jesus is not impressed with the crowds. He turns to them and challenges them to become His disciples. This is outworked in practical ways. The following must be worked out in practical ways.

Deny: refuse to associate with. Deny is to disassociate with our needs, wants desires and selfishness.

Jim Elliot: He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

What are we willing to give up for the sake of the gospel? To see the great salvation of many will require a great commitment on our part.

4.  The Greatest Community – The church

Jesus came for His church, His bride. He died for His church.

Matt16:18 - And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 

One day everything will fade but the Church of Jesus will go on forever. It is a privilege to be a part of the church.

Every community has a code of conduct. Heb 10:25 – Let us not give up the habit of meeting together. We are here to be the Light of the World.

5.  The Greatest Return

Matt 16:27 Jesus will come back to reward each one according to what they have done. We live with this hope!

 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

Matt 24:30-31 He will come with power and glory to gather His elect.

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

1Thes 4:16-18 The dead in Christ will rise first. We will be with the Lord forever.

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Rom 8:18 -  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Rev 22:12 God is coming with His reward.

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

What is my answer to the greatest question?

What is our response in the face of suffering? Can we look to Jesus and say His grace is sufficient? Am I putting Christ first and do I value the church?

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.   

Freedom In Christ

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on April 4th 2021 by Colin D via zoom. For the audio please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

FREEDOM IN CHRIST

Gal 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Romans 6:3-11

INTRODUCTION

This letter is written by the Apostle Paul. Paul establishes and reminds the Galatians that he is an Apostle not chosen by man but by Jesus himself. (Gal1:1)

Unlike his other epistles where after the regular salutations, he would remind them of their salvation, calling etc and then get to why he is writing his letter; we find that here in the third sentence itself he tells them the reason for his letter. He is shocked that they have turned away from grace.

 The law came through Moses but Grace through Jesus (John1:17). The Law was put in charge to led us to Christ (Gal3:24)

He reminds them that they are all sons of God through Christ Jesus and not the law. Therefore, ALL are in Jesus – Jew, Greek, Salve and free. (Gal3:28) We are the new vine that has been grafted into Jesus and now because the Holy Spirit dwells in us we can cry Abba Father (Gal4:6-7)

Ch5:1 – JESUS has set us free.

WHAT IS FREEDOM

 Freedom is the ability to make choices using the freewill God has given us. When we were slaves to sin in a way we could not really choose. We could not help ourselves from sinful thoughts and actions.

Jesus came to set us free. True freedom is found in the Cross. This is why Jesus’ resurrection is so pivotal to our faith. Your old nature was crucified on the cross along with Jesus. You are made alive and new in Jesus. Your old self is not raised to life. You are Born again – a new creation.

However, there are behaviours, sin habits and lifestyles, thought patterns that we need to work on. This process is called sanctification. Our behaviour is influenced by how we think. How we think is influenced by what we believe.

I’d like to pause and ask a question. What are your core beliefs?

HOW ARE WE SET FREE?

 When we say Jesus came to set us free it implies, we were not free before that. We were all therefore under bondage or slavery. To what?

Christ came to set us free from the law: living by rules and regulations which we call a legalistic lifestyle.

We were all slaves to sin. God made a perfect world with Adam and Eve as objects of His love. In that perfect world, there was perfect freedom.

Was there absolute freedom in the Garden? YES. From God’s perspective, YES. The world and the devil would like to tell us otherwise and therein lies the problem. This is what the devil tempted the first couple with – to believe that they were not truly free as long as they obeyed God and lived within the safe boundaries, He gave them.

Adam and Eve fell for this trap and instead of experiencing freedom, they fell into bondage.

True freedom is not without boundaries. Those boundaries keep us from pain, and sadness and misery. When we live by God’s will we are absolutely free.

The cross sets us free from the penalty and the power of sin.

What are we set free from? Old sinful habits, un renewed thought patterns, old identity and the requirement to live under the law.

Many believe that a magic wand is waved over our heads when we are saved and that is why they get disillusioned or do not know how to handle life’s challenges, personal weaknesses etc.

What we know by faith we have to act upon. Our old nature has been crucified on the cross. We still need to deal with the sin habits. We call this the renewing of our minds. We have to unlearn old ways of thinking and replace them with new belief systems.

On the other hand, there are some who do try to live by a whole set of rules – dos and don’ts that are not found in scripture but based on culture and human tradition.

The more dangerous deception is when we use scripture to stay in bondage.

Renewing involves removing and replacing. We have to get rid of old beliefs and thought patterns and replace them with new ones.

What do we replace them with? We replace them with the truth. What is Truth? Truth is the infallible WORD OF GOD.  

We read our bibles day in and out yet we do not experience freedom. Why? This knowing is not head knowledge. It's not information. Information that challenges us to change our beliefs and thoughts will lead to transformation. This kind of knowing will set us free.

We need His empowering enabling Grace in our lives that comes by being immersed in the Holy Spirit. Only then can we produce fruit of the Holy Spirit that will last. This new life is not about behaviour modification but heart transformation.

Change your beliefs and your behaviour with automatically change e.g.) Covid has changed how we do life because we believe it can kill us.

 

BELIEF ABOUT GOD

Do you believe God not just loves you with agape love but He likes you and the way HE made you?. He did not die to give you worth. He has accepted and approved of you from eternity.

But because of our world systems that are controlled by Satan its foundations are in the orphan way of thinking which is this system of performance-based acceptance. And we transfer this to our heavenly Father, the result is legalism. “Legalism is an attitude. It’s a system of thinking in which an individual attempt to gain God’s love and acceptance through good works or service.” Charles Stanley

 

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THOUGHTS PATTERNS I NEED TO BE SET FREE FROM?

What I have seen in all our years as Christ-followers and in the ministry is that the battle for freedom from wrong beliefs which lead to wrong behaviour is one of the biggest battles, we Christian’s face. This affects our personal holiness, how we view God and relate to Him and how it affects us on a day-to-day basis is in how we relate with others.

 

Let us look at only 3 patterns today (Idols of the heart that become strongholds of thinking):

LOOK GOOD – This is all about outward appearances. This is marked by insecurity and you hide who you really are. You live life pretending to be someone else.  It’s bondage. This happens when we do not live out of our identity in Christ. We look for other people and things to prop up our good looks.

 So, you lie, cheat, deceive and create false impressions.

Here we will want people’s approval. The person will perform to gain approval and attention. A test is how you react when people do not appreciate you or you get overlooked. Will you continue to serve with the same faithfulness and fervour?

People-pleasing behaviour patterns are developed to feed this need. You find it difficult to say “NO” because you want the maintain the image of the ‘nice guy.

It will mask itself in good works.

Because I want to feel good about myself, I indulge in comparison and unhealthy competition.

 They are jealous of others blessings and success. Because they can have a superiority complex, they can be critical, judgemental, and gossip.

Inwardly some can suffer from an inferiority complex where they don’t feel good enough about themselves and often feel guilty for not measuring up to their own standards.

They will manipulate people and situations for their personal gain and advantage.

They are opportunity-driven and not value-driven.

They fear failure. They have personal agendas well masked.

Life in God is about being authentic and real. It is about living from the Father’s approval and knowing that you are already loved and accepted.

 

FEEL GOOD

We live in a very sensuous world. Everything is about making you feel good and this has led to lifestyle choices that are harmful.

You can’t always feel good. God has given us a lot of emotions. God feels angry, grieved, jealous, sad, happy, joyful etc. Emotions tell us what is going on inside of us and what and how we need to respond.

So, while we are NOT ruled by our emotions, they are markers about how we are experiencing the world around us.

Our feelings are a response to our thoughts which are dictated by our beliefs. If we believe that all negative emotions are from the devil or an indication that we do not have faith; the result will be that I deny those emotions and live with unreality.

We do not deny facts. We also declare the truth. E.g.) I am sad that my daughter is unwell (FACT) but I know God can and will heal her (TRUTH). I am sad I lost my job (FACT) but I know God is my provider (TRUTH)

They don’t like to move out of their comfort zone. They do not want their life challenged. Comfort is an idol and they will cloak it in spiritual language of grace and God’s will.

The need to feel good can also result in self-medicating addictive behaviours that give you that constant “high”. For some it is religion.

A test would be: how do you react when sad things happen in your life? Are you able to acknowledge the pain and still confess the truth found in God’s word? Look at the psalms – they are full of raw admission of reality and confessions of faith. Even Jesus said He was greatly distressed. Did He not trust in God? Of course, HE did.

BE RIGHT

This behaviour is fuelled by the belief that I need to be perfect. Perfectionism drives what I do and how I relate with people. Therefore, because I expect people to be perfect, when I fail, I think that now “people will reject me, are think I am a let-down, a disappointment, a waste of time “etc.

So, we need to be right at any cost. This leads to lying, cover-up, deceitful behaviour, rationalizing our faults, blaming others, inability to take responsibility for our behaviour.

These people find it difficult to share weaknesses, be vulnerable or authentic. Apologizing and owing up is the hardest thing for them to do

They are unable to show grace to others. These people forget that they too are flawed and full of weakness.

To be right they will exercise control though driving the narrative of what is going on in their life. They create a reality that suits them.

A test would be how quick are you to admit your fault? How quick are you to repent and seek forgiveness? Or do you find yourself arguing, explaining, rationalizing, blaming others for what you need to take responsibility for? Are you able to overlook other people’s weakness and give grace? Remember 70 times 7.

ALL of us have elements of all 3 of these wrong belief systems. But as we renew our minds, we will get healthier and learn to walk in true freedom.

WHAT IS MY RESPONSE?

“Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

While Paul was talking about legalism and going back to Old covenant rules of circumcision etc. There is a principle here that applies to anything belief or behaviour that is not in line with the freedom Christ has won for us.

How do I respond? I respond by changing my beliefs.

LOOK GOOD

Know that God approves of you and gives you unconditional worth. He delights over you. He does not think badly about you when you fail. I am already declared righteous and I have nothing to prove to anyone.

FEEL GOOD   

Know that God will not leave you alone. He is always with you in your highs and lows. He does not reject us when we are having a bad day. He is close to the brokenhearted. He knows all your thoughts even before you can speak of them. You are fully accepted and eternally loved.

We transform our beliefs by taking thoughts captive and subjecting them to the Truth found in the Word of God and make them obedient to that truth but meditating on it and replace our convictions/beliefs.

This will release me from wanting to create an impression that everything is always honky dory and fine. I will have an accurate assessment of where I am right now and how I am feeling.

 

BE RIGHT

Know that God loves and accepts me despite my weakness, sins and failings. He does not punish me as my sins deserve but His grace comes rushing in when I acknowledge my wrongdoings and repent. He is for me and not against me. He loves me completely and will never reject me.

 It was for freedom Christ set you free. And it starts with your beliefs which affect how you think, which affects your feelings and your behaviour.

   Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

 

 

 

Fear Faith, Freedom - Lesson From The Early Church

This message at Word of Grace was preached on July 5th, 2020 via zoom by Tara. To listen to the audio please click here.

Acts 5:17-42 “Fear, Faith, and Freedom”

Questions to consider before reading the passage:

1) What or who did the high priest and council fear? Why? What about Gamaliel?

2) What did the apostles fear and who did they trust and obey?

3) What does fear have to do with obedience to God? What do you learn from this story?

Read Acts 5:17-42

Now let’s look at the questions for this passage:

1)    What or who did the high priest and council fear? In v17 it says they were “filled with jealousy” and in v28 they said, “you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (people were coming even from towns outside Jerusalem to be healed) and “you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us”, so it seems they were very concerned with how the crowds were favourably responding to the apostles and that they were afraid of what the people thought about them.

Why?  Perhaps they were afraid to be seen as guilty of the blood of Jesus, perhaps a revolt or riot could happen with the people turning against them? We don’t know for sure.

What about Gamaliel?  In v38 he said, “if this is a plan of man it will fail,” … “but if it is of God you may be found opposing God”. He seemed to have a different opinion and more reverence for God and to trust that God could handle the outcome of the current situation with the people following this movement started by Jesus.

2) What did the apostles fear and who did they trust and obey?  

In v20, they were told by the angel of the Lord, “Go, stand in the temple, and teach” and they obeyed what they were told. Furthermore they “rejoiced to be counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name of Jesus, the Christ”, showing that they trusted in God and were not afraid of men.

3) What does fear have to do with obedience to God? What do we learn from this story?

To help us answer this last question, let’s look at some points to highlight below

“Fear, Faith, & Freedom”

1) Fear of man vs fear of God

Proverbs 1:7 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.

Gal 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Many times, in the scriptures God commands his people “do not fear” and to take courage, see the beginning of the book of Joshua for an example of this. Also, see 2 Chronicles chapter 20 in which King Jehoshaphat, when faced with a vast army coming against the people, prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” He was told he would not need to fight that the “battle is the Lord’s”.

Paul was facing a group of Jewish Christians who opposed him as a leader and also were instructing the Galatians to be circumcised.  Even Peter who had been spending time and eating with the Galatians suddenly stopped when those Jews came to town, hypocritically submitting to them.  Paul himself also faced this conflict of his call to preach the good news of the blessing of God coming to gentiles with opponents.

For myself, simply following Christ and submitting my decisions to his leading and leadership in my life also puts me at odds with those close to me who have other desires or plans. The main example of this has been my dad who like a good father, wants the best for me, however often according to his own plan of what is best. I have learned and am still learning to honour and respect him and yet to fear God and trust God in obeying what God is calling me to do. 

2) Faith is obedience to Jesus despite persecution

Jesus warned of persecution to come but also described it as a blessing:

Matt 5:11-12 -  “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

John 15:18-27

 18“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23“He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25“But they have done this to fulfil the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

26“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27and you will testify also because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

Jesus as commanded us to be his witnesses, with a promise of being with us. Will we obey?

Matt 28:19-20

19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

3) Freedom through Spirit  is to obey God and to serve others out of love, by the power of the Spirit

Gal 5:1, 13, 22-23,

“For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. …

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.” 

 The freedom we have in Christ is so that we can use the opportunity he gives us to love one another and serve one another. This motivation of love sets us free of fear to live by faith.

1 John 4:18  “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

In closing, we have seen how the apostles were continued to be trained as witnesses through the persecution they experienced, being imprisoned again and yet being commanded to keep teaching.  God used a leader among the high priests to speak wisdom at a critical moment, and allow the apostles to continue and not to stop teaching and preaching about life in Christ.  The priests felt threatened by them and were afraid of the people yet the apostles continued to live freely obeying God and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.