I very much appreciate that God has given us the ability to make our own decisions. When my children were young (And still today!) I would pray that God would help them, and I, to make good decisions.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
I. A Clear Division
I appreciate the clear division. You can choose a blessing or a curse. Of course, who would intentionally choose a curse? Only someone who does not believe.
A. Psalms 14:1
The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.
B. Proverbs 9:10
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
C. Luke 11:23
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
From these verses we see a continuation of a clear-cut choice. We can go with God, or without God. We are either with Jesus, or against Jesus. There is no middle ground. There is no neutral territory. We must decide which side we are on.
II. You Choose: Joshua 24:14-15
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua reminded the Children of Israel that they had a choice. They could serve the Lord, or they could serve other gods, or no gods.
We also have a choice. We can serve God, or follow some other path, but there will be consequences for our choice. It is important that we make the right one.
III. Believe: Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We can read the words that tell us about Jesus and God but unless we mix that knowledge with faith, our knowledge will be useless. We must believe that the words are true. We must have faith in God. This faith comes about when the Spirit of God speaks to our hearts about the Word of God and we have the opportunity, by the grace of God, to choose to believe. When we respond in faith to the message of Jesus the Spirit of God comes into our hearts and we become a new creation.
IV. Act: Matthew 7:21-27
1 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
We do not change our lives to be saved, but if we are saved, our lives will change. If the Spirit of God dwells inside of us, then we will not be the same.
We must daily decide to follow Jesus. There will always be the temptation to follow old patterns, to do our own thing, but it is far better to follow Jesus, not just in what we say, but also in what we do.
Jesus has offered to us an abundant life. It is up to us to choose whether or not we will receive it.
These are the sermon notes from 11/30/19. All scripture quotes are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Any advertisements that might appear are placed by WordPress. I have no control over them, nor do I receive any money from them.
Good Ground
August 12, 2019There are some Christians who focus almost exclusively on the New Testament. They may be familiar with the famous stories of Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, Joshua at Jericho and Moses at the Red Sea, but speak to them about the Minor Prophets and they may not know very much. The OLd Testament was the Bible of Jesus and the disciples. It lays the foundation for the teachings of the New Testament. It is good for Christians to read both the Old and the New Testaments in their daily devotions.
I. Refined By Fire
Zechariah was a post-exilic prophet. That means that he prophesied after the Children of Israel had returned to Jerusalem after their seventy year exile to Babylon. This portion of his prophecy will be familiar to Christians because a portion of it is quoted in the gospels.
Zechariah 13:7-9
A. The Shepherd: Verse seven is the verse that is quoted in the gospels. It refers to the betrayal of Judas, the arrest of Jesus and the scattering of the disciples.
B. Little Ones: The affliction of the ‘little ones’ is hard to read. Two-thirds are cut off and die. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. (cf. Matthew 7:21) There is much debate in Christianity about the security of the believer, but even those who hold to the doctrine of eternal security recognize that some will come to the altar, profess Christ for a time, and then fall away. They explain this by simply saying that the individual was never truly saved. So, whether you acknowledge backsliding as an option or eternal security, there is the recognition that some for a time, claim Christianity, but will not be in heaven.
That is sad.
C. Refined: For those whose faith remains firm, they will go through testing. It is meant to be a time of spiritual growth. It is part of how we progress from being babes in Christ to mature believers. It is an ongoing process.
II. The Sower and the Seed
Some will not be convinced by verses from the Old Testament. The same principle is taught in the gospels by Jesus himself.
A. The Parable: Matthew 13:3-9
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
I am sure that you will see the similarities to Zechariah’s prophecy, but we do not have to leave this parable to our own interpretation. Jesus gave the interpretation to the disciples so that there can be no doubt.
B. The Interpretation: Matthew 13:18-23
So, some do not respond to the gospel. They are unbelievers. Some respond to the gospel and fall away under persecution. Some respond but their lives are choked out by the cares and concerns of the world. Some respond and bear fruit. Please notice that of those that respond, two parts out of three, will not survive in their faith.
See the similarity now?
III. The Security of the Believer: Romans 8:37-39
Nothing can separate us from the love of God! We are more than conquerors!! We are secure in Christ!!! These verses prove that claim.
Do they?
It is true that nothing from the outside can take us away from Christ. But…. can we choose to leave?
I would submit that we do have that choice. We can give up. We can be drawn away. Those are choices that we can make. God does not force us to stay with Him.
So if we want to be sure that we are in ‘good ground’ what should we do?
IV. Keep Your Eyes on Jesus: Hebrews 12:1-2
The Christian life is not over at the beginning. It is not a brief sprint. It is a life-long commitment to Christ. It is daily making the choice to follow Jesus. We should daily fix our eyes on Jesus and follow Him. It is basic Christian teaching that to grow in Christ we should spend time reading the Bible, we should spend time in prayer, and we should regularly gather together with other believers for worship, instruction, prayer and encouragement.
This does not mean that we go back and forth from saved to unsaved, over and over again. Exactly at which point does our faith die? That is only for God to judge. I know that in my life I want to pursue a healthy life in Christ. I want a ‘closer walk with thee’. I don’t want to find the line just to stay above it. I want to be all that I can be in Christ.
I hope that you do as well.
These are the sermon notes from 8/4/19. Any advertisements that might appear are placed by WordPress. I have no control over them, nor do I recieve any money from them. All Bible quotes are from the New King James Version.
Tags:backsliding, Bible, Christianity, commentary, eternal security, faith, God, religion, salvation, Scripture, serving God, spirituality
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