Do People See Jesus In Me? Series

Introduction

We come to our third and final message in this series today. If you remember the first two messages Paul is praying for the entire church family at Philippi. There are problems in this house church at Philippi, mainly a couple of people are not getting along, and so instead of praying for just those two, he is praying for the whole church.

And what this tells me is that no matter how big the church, the smallest problem in the church can damage the sweet fellowship of the church.

So, Paul prays that the entire church would grow in love more and more. And we asked ourselves some questions to determine if our love is growing more and more. Then Paul prayed that the entire church in the knowledge of God have all discernment. And once again, we asked ourselves some questions to determine if we are using the knowledge of God to determine right from wrong and good from evil.

Today, we are going to use that same format of asking ourselves some questions to determine if people see Jesus in me. Paul’s final part of this prayer is that we all be filled with all the fruits of righteousness. The purpose of the fruits of righteousness is to make us look like Jesus. In Galatians 5, Paul list those fruits as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Jesus possesses all those traits and we as believers in Christ should possess them in our lives.

Listen to Paul’s prayer again in Philippians 1:9-11. And then, let’s ask ourselves the questions.

Scripture

Philippians 1:9–11 (NKJV)

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Question #1

When our back is against the wall, when we find ourselves in enemy territory, do we find ourselves acting like Jesus or does our old nature come out?

The New King James Version Chapter 14

66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”

68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.

69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” 70 But he denied it again.

And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.”

71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”

72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.

In our passage of Scripture, Peter is in the courtyard of the high priest. The high priest who wants to have Jesus killed. He is in the enemy’s territory.

Bro. Greg, in his preaching to us, always reminds us that outside the doors of this church is a mission field. But I must remind you that a lot of times, outside the doors of this church, the devil has you one against many out in the world. He has you in enemy territory.

On your job, you may be the only Christian in the workforce of many. A work force that curses and makes fun of Jesus Christ. If you find yourself there, you are in enemy territory.

Heather, you are going to Meridian Community College in the fall, and you may find yourself in a classroom where the teacher makes known to the class his anti-Jesus views and his dislike for Christians. You might just find yourself in enemy territory in some classes.

In our passage, Peter is in enemy territory. Probably, many have followed to see what the Jewish leaders are going to do with Jesus. And so, some are gathered around the fire waiting on word, others probably walking around talking to one another speculating what will happen to Jesus. The people who are obviously absent from the scene are the other ten disciples. That makes Peter alone in enemy territory.

When you are in enemy territory, as a Christian you only have two options. You can act like a Christian should act; or you can allow your old nature to come out.