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14 Dec: 

How Are Christians Supposed to Live?

2 Cor 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ….”

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that as Christians we are to live as ambassadors for Christ. That as His ambassadors we are to make following His ways and His path our first priority. We are NOT to allow cares and concerns of this world and this life distract us from being obedient to the truth. That was one of the points in the Parable of the Sower  – that those seeds which fell into the thorns, became caught up in this world – and become unproductive. So how do our lives differ from those living in this world?

 1 Cor 15:20-22  “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive”. And I do not believe this is strictly talking about the physical resurrection in the 2nd Coming.        Jesus puts it this way: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)      Eph 2:1,4,5 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, . . . . But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ”.  

So again, the question is –  if we have been made alive and if Jesus came to bring us an abundant life, --  how does that show up in the way we live???     One such way is that our lives need to change from the lifestyle lived for self to a lifestyle living for Christ!

  1. We need to turn from our wicked ways (repent):   Acts 3:26 ““For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways”.    Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

When we become a disciple of Christ’s, we are to be different than we were before. We are to “live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2). We are “not [to] be conformed to this world but be transformed” as we give ourselves as “a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1-2). The Lord expects us to give up our old life of sin and begin a new life of obedience to Him.

  1. Walk in Newness of Life: Rom 6:4 ““Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life”    Mtt 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”   John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.”     1 Cor 6:20 “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”    This of course, then connects itself with Jesus’ words that people will know we are His disciples by our love for one another.   1 Peter 2:21,22 ““For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth”  This says about as clearly as possible – our lives in this world is completely changed from following our own desires to following those of Christ. This clearly illustrates the idea of our needing to take up our cross and follow Him.
  2. In our speech and our lives, we affirm the message of salvation to the lost:                                   .   
  1. Speech:   Rom 10:14-16 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  Mtt 28:19,20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”.      “We must be willing to affirm the same thing today and always be “ready to make a defense…for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Peter 3:15).       
  2. Lives: 1 John 4: 10-16 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. 13 This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”   Luke 10:25-28 “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  26 “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”   27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”      And then the parable of the Good Samaritan proceeds . . . . .

The point in this is our speech and our lives are to reflect the spirit and life of Christ. As He came to bring salvation to mankind we are to likewise bring that message of salvation to the lost in our speech and in our lives.

Furthermore, if Christ was raised from the dead, we must affirm His resurrection because it is the basis for our hope. Peter said we have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Because we have “such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech” (2 Corinthians 3:12) as we affirm the basis for our hope – Jesus’ resurrection which assures us of our resurrection.

Our lives also change in our outlook of what lies beyond this life on earth:

  1. Look Beyond This Life:  Peter said we have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).   1 Cor 15:12 “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”   Since there   is   a resurrection, we must be willing to forego the pleasures of this life in order to obtain the life that is to come. To do this we must “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is” and “set [our] mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). We must not allow the “worries and riches and pleasures of this life” to distract us from serving the Lord as happened to the seed which fell in the thorns (Luke 8:14).

 

One day, our material possessions will be left behind for someone else (Luke 12:19-21; Ecclesiastes 2:18-21). Because of this, we must be looking for what is coming next.  James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”   1 Thess 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”   1 Thess 4:14 ““For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus”.

Conclusion: I offer this final passage because it reiterates so many of today’s ideas/points:

1 Cor 15:1,2 “Now I make known to you (preaching) brethren, the gospel which I preached to you,

which you also received (repented),           in which you also stand (walk in new life)                                     

by which also you are saved (look beyond this life),   If you hold fast the word which I            preached to you”.

How are Christians supposed to live: like ambassadors who go out into the world faithfully, obediently, like Christ Himself whereupon we will eventually be like Christ – sitting at the right hand of God.

 

 

7 Dec:  Learning From Other’s Mistakes!

1 Cor 10:6,11     “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.”   “Now these things happened to them   as an example,   and they were written for our instruction”.

 

Last week we looked at three instances where our Lord became troubled during His life here on earth. We also noted how in each instance His response was to turn to God for resolution. Today I want to look at the teachings that we find in the Word of God in order to help us avoid making similar mistakes = thus bringing grief and pain into our lives. This passage in Corinthians validates this idea of learning from other people’s mistakes.

According to that idea the following Scripture should have something to say to us –

1 Cor 10:1-5 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea; and they all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and sea; they all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased - for they were laid low in the wilderness.”

 

1 Cor 10:1-5 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that      our fathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea; and they all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and sea; they all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless,     with most of them God was not well-pleased - for they were laid low in the wilderness.”   As you look at this passage – what might be the lesson we could learn from this? First you see that they   ALL   passed through the same situation yet  ‘some’ of them were displeasing to God and their dead bodies were left in the wilderness as a result. Sadly, the scripture says:  ‘most of them, not ‘some’.  But that still falls short of all of them. So they all went through the same circumstances but there were different results in some of the people’s lives. 

If some of them could avoid being punished then we too can also avoid such punishment. The question is, what can we do to avoid making the same mistakes and receiving the same punishment?

1 Cor 10:6-10     “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . . Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

  • A) Do Not Crave Evil Things (v. 6)
  • This was the fundamental problem that led to the other sins
  • We will never overcome sin if we   desire  it.    James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”   In Romans we read of God giving man over to their evil desires.  Rom 1:21,28 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ….  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, Gad gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…”  In Matthew Jesus tells us that our heart is going to follow what we decide to treasure in our lives:   Mtt 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”    Ezekiel records for us what God desires for and from us:           Ezek 11:19 “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”.                                   
  • So we do have a choice. We can choose the things of this world or we can choose those things from God’s world/kingdom.                Colossians 3:1-2 “Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

 

1 Cor 10:6-10     “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . . Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

  • B) Do Not Be Idolaters (v. 7)
  • Example: golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6)
  • But something of importance that we need to realize is that there does not need to be a physical statue to be guilty of idolatry. An idol is anything that replaces God as the primary object of our devotion/allegiance.
  • This is probably why the very First Commandment in the Top Ten tells us:  Have no other gods before Me.  
  • Idolatry violates / supersedes the Greatest Commandment to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

 

1 Cor 10:6-10     “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . . Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

  • C) Do Not Act Immorally (v. 8)
  • Example: the sin of Achan (greed/stealing)        Judges 7:1”But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.”
  • Sexual immorality includes anything contrary to God’s plan for marriage Hebrews 13:4 – fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, pornography
  • How to overcome this – self-control   Rom 12:2 “and do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your  mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is”.   Phil 4:8 “Finally brethren, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”  Col 3:1,2 “set your minds on things above”.  

 

1 Cor 10:6-10     “Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they indeed craved them. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . . Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

 

  • D) Do Not Try the Lord (v. 9) nor Grumble (v. 10)
  • Ex 17:1-7 In one of the camps Israel grumbled against Moses and accused him of bringing them out to die. Moses instructed the people they were grumbling, not against Moses, but against the Lord.  V. 7 God named the place Massa because they tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us, or not?”                 Numbers 21:3-5 God gave Israel complete victory over the Canaanites who were fighting them. The Lord then led them around the country of Edom which prompted Israel to become impatient and to grumble and to accuse God of bringing them out to die.          
  • The issue appears to be that it is not their needing something but their way of going about bringing their needs to God. Rather than asking with the expectation of receiving they proceeded on the expectation that God was NOT going to provide. Heb 11:6 “And 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 seek Him.”
  • How to overcome this – show gratitude and trust:       Prov 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”              1 Peter 5:7 “  “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”        
  •  
  • CONCLUSION:  If we are going to faithfully serve the Lord, it will have to be done by guarding and preparing against what can cause us to fall!!!

 

  •  Eph 5:3-12 “But immortality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; . . .  Therefore do not be partakers with them since you are children Light; . . . . trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”

 

  • Rom 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.:
  • 1 Peter 2:2 “ Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.”