In God's Book We're Going To Be Winners

Sermon for 3/25/2007

In God’s Book We Are Going to Be Winners

Psalm 138:8

Introduction:

There was a perfect man who met a perfect woman. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve this perfect couple was driving along a winding road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the survivor?

Answer: The perfect woman. She’s the only one that really existed in the first place. Everyone knows there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

A Male’s Response: So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the perfect woman must have been driving. This explains why there was a car accident.

WBTU:

A. Perfection. “Nobody’s perfect.” “I’m not perfect, but I’m trying.” “You’re not perfect, you know.” Most of us are quite free to admit our imperfections. We almost take pleasure in it. Everybody’s imperfect. It can’t be helped. So we relax and don’t try very hard to be perfect. But is this the kind of attitude that God and the Word approve of? Is it? Mediocrity is fine!

B. What does our English word perfect mean? The word as we use it today means complete and faultless. A perfect person is all he ought to be and nothing he ought not to be. Does anyone fit that description?

Thesis: This morning I want us to think of perfection in reference to time: Perfection in the past, perfection in the present, and perfection in the future.

For instances:

Perfection in the past

A. Now the Bible makes it clear that God is perfect. He was perfect, is perfect now, and will always be perfect. The Bible talks about God’s perfect works, God’s perfect way, God’s perfect knowledge, God’s perfect faithfulness, God’s perfect will, and God’s perfect power. In Matthew 5:48 (we will look at this in a few minutes) it says that God is perfect period.

B. Now contrast that with human beings. We see from the Old Testament that the Bible is very honest. It presents many heroes of the faith. It presents there good points and there bad points. After looking at these people from the past, we know that no human was ever perfect. Most of them were far from perfect.

C. When we come to the New Testament we find characters like ourselves. However, the New Testament introduces us to one individual who was perfect.

D. He had a miraculous and perfect birth. He had a perfect childhood. He had a perfect work record. He had a perfect spiritual record. He even had a perfect death. In his sufferings he was perfect. (Heb 2:10 NIV) In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

E. How could this be? God is perfect and considering that Jesus Christ was the Son of Man and also the Son of God, Jesus Christ lived a perfect life in the flesh. (Heb 7:28) For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

F. The Bible tells us that he was really made perfect through his sufferings and death, at least perfect for us. (Heb 5:8 NIV) Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered(Heb 5:9 NIV) and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

G. We get his perfection, his salvation when we: Give brief plan of salvation.

H. Many of us have already done this. The perfect man lived in the past, and our initial salvation for many of us was in the past.

Perfection in the present

A. Through Jesus Christ, we are perfect. Now wait a minute! Certain people like to bring up a teaching that we can be perfect in this life. We are above sin and through the Holy Spirit we live on a different plane. We have reached perfection!

B. Charles Spurgeon- Did you ever see a perfect man? I did once. He called upon me, and wanted me to come and see him, for I should get great instruction from him if I did. I said, "I have no doubt of it, but I should not like to come into your house; I think I should be unable to get into your room." How is that? "Well, I suppose your house would be so full of angels that there would not be room for me." He did not like that; so I broke another joke or two upon his head; whereupon he went into a fit. "Well friend," I said to him, "I think I am as perfect as you after all; for perfect men get angry?" He denied that he was angry, although there was a peculiar redness about his cheeks that is very common to persons when they are angry; at any rate I think I rather spoiled his perfection.