Living As God Has Called Us To Live

Sermon Brief

Date Written: September 21, 2007

Date Preached: September 23, 2007

Where Preached: OPBC (AM) in view of a call

Sermon Details:

Sermon Title: Bond, Build and Blossom!

Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

Introduction:

Do you remember those US Army commercials, “Be all that you can be…in the Army!” Statistics have shown that after that particular campaign by the Army, recruitment rose sharply and there were recruits pouring in! This is because it was a challenge to young men and women all over our nation to become ALL of what they could become… to reach their fullest potential!

Well did you know that slogan has a spiritual component as well? “Be all that you can be… in God’s Army!” It is the call of God to all believers! But unlike the US Army’s slogan that was trying to recruit NEW soldiers, the spiritual component is not a recruitment tactic but it is actually a command for those already members of God’s Army! It is THE clarion call to ALL believers to live their lives OUT LOUD for the glory of God and the praise of Jesus Christ and the honor of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever realized that as a saved believer that you are part of the glory of God? Have you ever stopped to take in the fact that because of what Christ has done FOR you… you are called to represent God to this world?

Many of us… when we got saved it was for selfish reasons… it was to keep our tail-end out of hell… but when we become Christians FAR more than saving us from hell happens… When we accept Jesus as Savior, did you realize that you also are called to surrender your hearts and souls to Jesus Lord and master of your life! Jesus is to reign over our lives! And because of this…He is our Supreme Commander in Chief and He calls us all to be the best foot soldier of the Cross that we can be!

Scripture speaks volumes about walking in the right way before God, but there are a few passages from the NT that really bring the issue to the forefront…

In Eph 4:1 (NKJV) the Apostle Paul writes, “…I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…”

In Col 1:10 (NKJV) he writes, “…that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”

In 1 Thess 2:12 (NKJV) he writes, “…that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory…”

Ok, I hear you preacher, I am supposed to walk worthy in my life as a believer, but just what IS walking worthy in the Lord? Well that is kinda God’s way of saying… to those He has saved “I want you to BE and LIVE OUT all you can be… in ME!”

Bottom line is that God is calling all who accept Him as Lord and Savior to totally SELL OUT for Jesus! We are called to forsake all for the Gospel of Christ and to live in this world in such a way that we bring attention and glory to Christ Jesus!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ… what I am telling you is that we are called by God to live BETTER than we are living now… we are called to reveal HIS glory and live out HIS plan in this world…

I want us to look at what our passage tells us this morning, the Apostle Paul writes, “18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit…”

First of all we find the connection word ‘and’ being used here meaning that Paul is connecting this thought to a previous thought. In the previous verses Paul actually addresses when we come to Christ in salvation…

16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed…

The ‘we’ Paul is writing about here are the believers in Corinth, and the believers all over the world…. He is referencing all of those who have placed their faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Paul begins with, And, we all… referencing those who have accepted Christ as Savior. This is inclusive of all who have professed Christ as Lord. But he does not stop at just the WHO… but he moves forward in his challenge…

Paul continues with the next phrase that many overlook or misunderstand. Paul speaks here about an ‘unveiled face’ and he makes a reference back to Moses when he came down from the mountain and when he came out of the Tent of Meeting…he had to place a veil over his face because God’s glory shone from Him and it frightened the Israelites…