To Live is Christ

 

Scripture Text

Philippians 1:20-21

Intro: One of the greatest men to ever live was the apostle Paul. He is a great example of how we as Christians should live our lives for our Savior and Lord. The Christian life is never stagnant. It is a life time of reaching toward the perfection (maturity) that Christ died to give us.

I. The Christians expectation and hope. Philippians 1:20 (NKJV) 

²⁰  according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. We are not to be ashamed but to boldly honor Christ in everything. Note the words "earnest expectation" or “eager”. It means to have a sincere and eager anticipation to honor Christ by life or death. It means to gaze into the distance with the head erect and alert just like a watchman on a tower. It is aiming one's attention at an object with concentration, eagerness, and intensity. It is turning the eyes away from everything else and focusing upon one object and one object alone. It is total concentration upon a person's desire. Paul's mind was not upon his terrible plight and circumstances; it was upon Christ—upon Christ in his body. As a prisoner he wanted to guard his mind from wondering and questioning God, from  becoming discouraged, depressed, complacent, inactive and undisciplined, denying and turning away from God or reacting wrongly toward God. If Christ is not the full focus of our mind and being we will have a tendency toward doubt, questioning everything, self-centeredness, pride, boasting, self-satisfaction, indulgence, extravagance, complacency, laziness, enslavement, bondage, which leads to ignoring God. Since his conversion, Paul had totally committed himself to magnifying Christ. And there was only one place where Christ could be magnified and seen: that was in his body. Note the reference to "by life, or by death." Paul was facing death. He did not know if he was going to die or continue living. If he was to be executed, he wanted to be as faithful as ever and to magnify Christ in death. If he was to be declared innocent and set free, he wanted to continue to magnify Christ in his body.

II. Purpose of a true believer. Philippians 1:21 (NKJV) For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
To those who don’t believe in God, life on earth is all there is, and so it is natural for them to strive for this world’s values—money, popularity, power, pleasure, and prestige. For Paul, however, living was for Christ—Paul’s life focus was to develop eternal values and to tell others about Christ, who alone could help them see life from an eternal perspective. For to me indicates Paul’s firm resolve and unshaken faith. The essence of life was Christ and having a vital spiritual union with him. Everything Paul desired or attempted was inspired by his devotion for Christ. With that attitude, dying would not be a tragedy but, instead, a realization of Paul’s hope and expectation. To live would continue Paul’s ministry of spreading the gospel; to die would be even better because Paul’s martyrdom would glorify Christ and bring him face to face with the Savior. Paul’s faithful and fearless witness even unto death would enhance the reputation of the gospel. Christ would be magnified as much in Paul’s death as he had been in Paul’s life.

Conclusion: May this be the desire of our hearts to glorify Jesus in all that we do here on earth and also to glorify Him in our deaths. May God give us the grace of a holy death.

Invitation: You can't glorify Jesus unless you know Him as your Lord and Savior. Just head knowledge alone doesn't save you. You must confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and then invite Him into your life to take charge and control of you. Then be baptized in a bible believing church as a public testimony of your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Don’t Be Deceived

 

Intro: We need to pay close attention to what is being said and taught all around us, in our government and churches, in the news and social media. We need to be alert for the deception, it is here. We are and will continue to be exposed to deception about the intentions of the other religions that are coming into our nation. There is deception by some of our government leaders about their intentions for a new world order and one world religion. The news deceives us everyday trying to control what people believe. There are so many deceptions right now. God does not want us to be deceived so He warns us in His word.

I. The bible warns there will be much deception in the last days.  1 Timothy 4:1-2 ¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. Jesus and the apostles forewarned us that during the last days false teachers will abound—loving money and attention, power and prestige, distorting the truth, dividing believers, and causing many to go astray as they follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people in the church will turn away from the faith, even though they may appear to still be faithful believers. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead. Paul warns us about false teachers. He never said that the false teachers misunderstood the gospel or that they simply taught in error. Rather, they were hypocrites (pretenders) and liars, with their teaching coming from Satan himself. Don't think you can't be deceived by false teaching. 

II. We are to test the spirits of prophets and teachers.                     1 John 4:1-3 (NKJV) ¹  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²  By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³  and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. The devil has put his false prophets in the church, news, and in our government to deceive many. We are to test the spirits by the truth of God's word.

III. Satan’s goal is to deceive the whole world.                                                    Satan is brilliantly clever at taking age-old lies, disguising them to look good, and gradually introducing them to even those who insist that they believe in the infallible authority of the Bible. Revelation 12:9 speaks of, "... that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world." The Lord put this and similar verses in his Word to warn us of a reality of worldly deception. Devil tries to disprove the word of God. He says it is outdated and too narrow-minded toward other religions. And even those who profess to be Christians are falling for the lies. Satan tells mankind that they can work out all their problems without God. He tells them take God out of school and all public arenas. He tells them you have a right to live as you chose. Whatever way you want to live is o.k. You have a right to believe as you choose, you have the right to choose abortion and the homosexual lifestyle. You don't have to listen to Christians and God's word.

IV. Satan’s deception about salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) ⁸  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹  not of works, lest anyone should boast. He teaches the doctrine of salvation by works instead of God’s grace. There are many ways to God. He Attempts to mix all ideas and religions together into one. To make God whatever you want Him to be and approve of all your religious ways and lifestyle. That your way to God is as good as the one mentioned in the bible. [John 14:6]

V. The solution to avoiding deception. Matthew 4:4  But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " As we read the Holy word of God and meditate and memorize it we will see the lie instantly. Christians who don't read God's word are likely to fall for Satan's deceptions and lies. The bible will do you no good until you read and memorize it. People are much more likely, these days, to not refer to the Bible for their convictions and world- view, but instead to follow the opinions of leaders they look up to. In these days T.V. Ministers are likely to draw our attention and our allegiance because of smooth words. It is a dangerous thing to set up experts within the Body of Christ who are beyond criticism. In these last days we cannot afford to follow human leaders as if they were experts; no matter who they are. We are to be taught by Jesus, and him alone. We must make it a priority to read God's word everyday to keep from being deceived by the news, friends, church leaders, smooth talkers and political leaders.

Invitation: Do not be deceived about your salvation. Be sure you have confessed your sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you for all have fallen short of God’s glory according to Rom. 3:23. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 6:2b Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

The Indwelling Spirit

 

Scripture Text

1 John 3:23-24

Intro: God's word says that we are partakers of the divine nature of God. This means that God Himself indwells us by His Spirit.

I. Christ's Spirit lives in us. [1 John 3:23, Romans 8:10-11]¹⁰  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹  But if the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. The indwelling Spirit provides believers with the very presence of Christ. Because the Holy Spirit lives in Christians that means that Christ lives in us and has given us His righteousness. Therefore we have a right standing before God. When we were saved, the Spirit baptized us into the body of Christ and His Spirit came to live in us to keep us. There is a mutual relationship—we believers live in Christ as He lives in us. This mutual relationship shows itself in people who keep these three essential commands in 1 John 3:23 (NKJV) ²³  And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.                                             (1) They believe in Christ, Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.                 (2) They love the brothers and sisters. 1 John 4:7-11 ⁷  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.                                (3) They live morally pure upright lives. 1 John 3: 3 And everyone who has this hope in Jesus purifies himself, just as He is pure. The Spirit’s presence in us makes a definite change in the way we live. Our conduct as Believers’ verifies his presence. Christ is training us to keep our focus on His presence in us. We can only keep His commandments as we look to Christ's Spirit in us for the power we need. How many try to live the Christian life by their own power not stopping to realize without Christ they can do nothing? John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 

II. We are sealed and kept by the indwelling Spirit. 1 John 3:24 (NKJV) Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. The person who keeps God's commandments dwells in God and God in Him. How do we know that God dwells in us? By keeping His commandments and by the Holy Spirit. This is made abundantly clear in this verse. READ IT! Eph. 1:13b says when we were saved “we were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.” ¹⁴  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. The Holy Spirit seals and guarantees us that we belong to God.          We are also kept by His Spirit. His Spirit gives us absolute assurance of eternal life. Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. He lives within us, He talks to us, shares with us, empowers us, leads and guides us, disciplines us, convicts and convinces us of the truth. God makes a home in our hearts by His Spirit. All that is involved in Christian living, the Spirit of God does within us. He is our constant and permanent companion. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He keeps us. He is always assuring us of God's presence in our lives and giving us confidence in God and in His presence and power.  Note that we also dwell in God. This means that we take up residence in God. In him is everything we need for life. When we dwell in God, we make our home in Him. Acts 17:28 says “For in Him [God] we live and move and have our being, 'For we are also His offspring.' This means because we are God's children we are always conscious of his presence in our lives. We experience a closeness, peace and contentment with God, and we experience an awareness of His greatness, His power, wisdom and love working in our lives making us the people He wants us to be and helping us to live as we should.

Conclusion: We can only hope to live for Christ as we look to His Spirit presence within. We are not adequate in our own strength. Jesus said in John 15:5 “If we abide in Him and He abides in us we will bear much fruit for without Him we can do nothing.”

Invitation: Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God as mentioned in Romans 8:16? if not now is the time to make sure you are His child before its too late. Just confess your sins to Christ and ask Him to forgive you and then invite Him into your life to take charge of you. Then be baptized in His name!