4th Annual Week of Renewal 2007
“Being Doers of His Word”
House of Faith
www.PS127.org
January 19: Are you in a relationship with God?
Pastor Bruce Shields
Guest Speaker: Nancy Kramer
WELCOME
Format
† Open with Prayer
† Sermon
† Prayer / Response Time
† Guest Speaker
† Prayer / Response Time
Q: ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
Simple Question: Difficult Answer
Saved
Not saved
Unsure
Don’t Care
Who’s going to heaven?
Just about everyone you ask.
How do we know if we are?
Questions to be answered
What is Saved? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For years I thought I was because;
† I believed there was a God
James 2:19
“19 You believe that there is one God. Good…”
But this was out of context…
James 2:18 – 20
“18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”
Out of context…you think “I believe in God, I’m going to heaven.”
In Context…YOUR FAITH MUST BE MADE ALIVE WITH DEEDS (or works)
FAITH without works is DEAD!
Was I saved?
I don’t really know, because the thief on the cross did not have works, yet Jesus said he would be in paradise.
But was I on a cross?
Was I at the gates of death, only just meeting the Lord?
Could I not live my faith?
Did I live my faith and in doing so, make my faith ALIVE!
No I did not.
And without living your faith, without works, your faith is dead, it is dead because without works, you are not repentant.
The scriptures tell us what SAVED is;
† Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (ACTS 2:21)
† But there must be Confession with your mouth (ROMANS 10:8 – 11)
ROMANS 10:8 – 10
“8 … "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
So we need to call on the only name that can save us, Jesus Christ.
We need to confess Him with our mouths AND believe in our hearts.
Our faith in our hearts must be met with confession of our mouths, and works to make our faith ALIVE!
These works are our fruit.
When we produce fruit, we are showing our faith in Jesus Christ is ALIVE and that we are repenting!
MATTHEW 3:7 – 8 Jesus Speaking
“7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
Producing fruit is evidence of repentance!
There are some who think producing fruit is evidence of salvation.
It’s not. Producing fruit, as Jesus said, is evidence of repentance.
So being saved is;
† Calling on the only name that saves - Jesus Christ
† Believing in your heart – Justified with God
† Confessing with your mouth – Saves you
† Producing fruit – Proves repentance
Jesus teaches us in simple terms.
REPENT OR PERISH
LUKE 13:1 – 9 Jesus Speaking
“1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?
3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ’For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 " ’Sir,’ the man replied, ’leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Sin against God is sin against God.
Guilty only has one punishment, eternal separation from God.
In our culture we tend to make one sin worse than others depending on our societal feelings at any given time period.
There was a time when sins against God were illegal in this country.
As our culture begins to mix with other religions, and we begin to marry out of the kingdom of God, each following generation is nothing more than a watered down half-breed.
I am speaking ONLY of religious beliefs, not race!
We are warned this would happen if we married into pagan religions. And today we are living out the consequences of those warnings in the word of God.
Sin is sin, and guilty is guilty in the eyes of God.
Jesus says there is no one more guilty than another.
Jesus also says, unless you repent, you will perish.
Then He gives the parable to show repentance and God’s grace.
If you have called on the name of the Lord, you have been saved and added to the Lord’s vineyard here on earth.
But, if you do not produce fruit, you will be cut down.
God’s grace allows you time to repent after you come to the kingdom.
This is why the tree was given time to produce fruit in the parable.
But do not take God’s grace for grant it.
Do not expect God’s grace.
Do not treat God’s grace period in your life as a license to live in sin.
For the end is near, and you must repent or be cut down.
MATTHEW 4:17
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
When did the kingdom of heaven arrive?
When Christ paid our debt on the Cross.
It is time for us to repent, to make our Faith alive, and live out our faith with works of righteousness.
And once we being to have evidence of our repentance with our righteous works, we need to KEEP IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT…
We need to continue living our faith so that our faith is alive!
It is possible to stop producing fruit, and we are warned by Jesus Christ about this happening in these last days in which we now live.
REVELATION 2:5
“Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.”
So in one scripture Jesus says if we do not produce fruit in His vineyard, we are to be cut down, and in another if we do not repent He will remove our lamp stand from its place.
Is righteous works, evidence of our repentance, important to Jesus?
So we should be living our faith.
Who is going to heaven?
All those who are living their faith in Jesus Christ.
What works, or fruit should we be producing?
That’s Tuesday Night, Are you a doer of the Word?
So how do we know if we are saved?
It’s simple…
† Have you called on the Name of Jesus Christ?
† Have you confessed Him with your mouth?
† Do you believe in your heart Jesus paid your debt by dying on the Cross and rising 3 days after?
† Are you making your faith alive by producing fruits, thus giving evidence of your repentance?
If you are doing these things, then you are not living in a state of unforgiven sin.
Committing a sin is not living in sin.
Prayer and Response Time…
