What we Believe Series
Preparing to be filled with the Holy Spirit – February 17, 2008
Acknowledge Dr. Henry Schorr (Mark 10:17-27 NIV)
o Were in series called what Christians believe about God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, Baptism and Spiritual gifts
o Were focusing on God the Holy Spirit
o Lord willing next week we’ll speak on ‘how to be filled with the Holy Spirit’
o But let me clear about one thing
o There is a world of difference between being baptized or receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit
o The moment the person becomes a believer the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence within you (Romans 8:9B)
o That is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11)
o The Apostle Paul wrote that if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, he does not belong to Christ
o It is one thing for you to have the Holy Spirit
o It is an entirely different thing for the Holy Spirit to have you
o When your life is under the direction and control of the Holy Spirit of God then the Spirit of God has you
o That is what the Apostle Paul called ‘being filled with the Spirit’
o The Holy Spirit wants to release his power within us
o The Holy Spirit wants to transform us into a new person
o He wants us to be Christ like, living a Christ centred life
o The Holy Spirit wants to reveal his plan and purpose for our lives
o The Holy Spirit wants to use us to impact this area where we live
o But he can only do that to the extent that we are willing to transfer ownership and the direction of our life to his control
o We must yield our lives completely to Him
o A common strategy of marketing agencies is you can get something for nothing
o One time I received a call from a young lady
o She said congratulations you have won an all expenses paid trip for four to Disney World in Orlando Florida
o At first I was excited
o Little did I know that everyone won the trip
o They were attempting to sell time sharing
o Timesharing is expensive
o It is something I didn’t need and couldn’t afford
o That is the something for nothing philosophy
o Unfortunately this is also used in religious circles
o Some movements seem appealing
o They even have a flavor of Christianity
o One message is if you give a faith gift of $1000 or more – you will receive ten times more back
o The message is for a minimal investment there is a big payoff
o That type of message avoids the true cost of following Jesus
o Jesus did not promise automatic wealth, health and automatic happiness
o If wealth was automatic then why did Jesus say ‘the son of man has nowhere to lay his head?’
o What Jesus taught was there is a cost to following Jesus
o Jesus told us to count the cost of following him
o Most of us do not think seriously about that
o Sometimes we glibly say “Jesus I will follow you wherever you go”
o Have you ever felt that way?
o Have you ever had a power surge go through you where you thought Jesus I will do it all for you
o I know I have
o I will follow you anywhere
o Name the cost
o Count me in
o In my line of work people come and go
o Some in my past are remembered for their faithfulness and steady devotion to Christ – I still have connections with them
o We know them and they are still faithful to Christ and to his church
o Others are like a tsunami, gospel gurus with all the answers, wreaking destruction in their path wherever they go
o Others were once on fire for Christ
o You can count on me pastor
o I am an evangelist
o I am a giver
o I am a youth worker
o I am a student of the word
o Were home group leaders
o Whatever you need count me in
o Count on us as part of the team
o But today they are nowhere to be seen
o Often out of the church, often very critical of it
o Have you ever wondered why?
o Their original attitude was Jesus I will follow you anywhere
o Maybe it happened at a service
o Maybe at a Promise Keeper weekend
o Maybe after a message from a dynamic speaker
o Maybe after reading a shot in the arm book like Beth Moore’s ‘Breaking Free’
o Often that person with that zealous commitment, at least at one time was a little ticked off at people
o Well I wished they were as on fire for Christ as I am
o Why don’t they just get it
o I know what I am talking about; that is the way I used to be
o Jesus asks us to ‘love God with all our heart, soul and mind’
o He asks us to count the cost and choose to follow him
o Often we don’t let people know, or perhaps they do not understand the true cost of following Jesus
o Jesus never pulled any punches
o He let people know that following him was going to be very costly
o Not everyone agreed with Jesus
o When Jesus made the call for people to yield their lives totally to him we read ‘From this time on many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him’
o And when we read passages like that we think Jesus couldn’t you have been a little bit easier on the people
o Couldn’t you have been a little bit more friendly with the people
o Couldn’t you have let them come along at their own pace
o I want to be clear that I believe that a poor strategy for a church is a continuous diet of negative, hard finger pointing messages
o That drives people away
o And those who stay will become a negative church
o It is simply not my style
o It was not Jesus style either
o Studies prove that negative law based preachers produce a negative church
o Studies show that preachers who are relational and identify with peoples struggles produce growing churches
o So as far as I am concerned if you’re a pastor and have a whole group of negative people just look in the mirror
o But I want to be also clear that there are times that we need to stop and clearly count the cost of what it means to be a Christian
o Jesus hits the nail on the head with the rich young ruler
o Jesus told the rich young ruler exactly what is relevant in his life
o Let me ask you this ‘Can something be true and irrelevant at the same time?
o Of course it can
o Suppose you have an abscessed tooth and your in excruciating pain
o So the dentist spends the first half hour discussing the fact that gold prices have never been higher
o Is it true, about really high gold prices
o It is absolutely true; gold prices have never been higher
o But it is totally irrelevant to your situation
o What you need is dental care, not a discussion on gold prices
o The rich young ruler wants to talk about rules, the ten commandments
o Jesus says that is irrelevant; you have it all backwards
o You do not need rules, you need a relationship
o I came to replace rules with relationship
o Jesus is the master communicator, the best preacher there ever was
o In Luke 14:28 Jesus said if your going to build a new building, a new home, you first sit down and estimate the cost of building
o Otherwise you may look foolish
o When we were children we used to visit our relatives in Brantford Ontario
o While there I noticed a house foundation with weeds growing around it
o So I asked my Uncle Clarence why the person did not finish the house
o My uncle said he started the house but ran out of money
o My uncle said he didn’t think it through and he was unprepared to finish what he started’
o Jesus said in the same way ‘any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple’
o Does that make you uneasy like it does me?
o In order to help us through that were going to look at Mark chapter ten this morning (Mark 10:17-27)
o Now the rich young ruler had reverence for Jesus. That word means that he literally knelt down at Jesus’ feet. His main question was ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life, to make it to heaven?’ Now at this point the conversation is already headed south. This guy is traveling down a well-worn, often used road but it’s the wrong road.
o That would be like me traveling to Kenora, but actually going north on Nungessor Road
o His question is flawed. He said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This has been the problem of those trying to connect with God through the ages. It is this belief that I have to do something and I have to do more and I’m never quite sure how much I should do? I am never sure if I have done the right things or done enough.
o Those of you who have an athletic background might think in terms of “How many righteousness goals do I need to score in order to live forever with God in heaven?”
o For me, with my accounting background, it’s I wonder if the good will somehow balance off the bad and God will say close enough.
o In our religious family it was “How many church services is enough? How many confessions with the priest are enough? How many Hail Mary’s do I need to recite?” How much is enough? What do I have to do?
o Fundamentally that’s the wrong question
o I have no doubt his question was sincere
o Now many of us are shy
o We don’t like attention drawn to ourselves
o Some don’t like to raise their hands in our service
o Many don’t like to sit up front
o Few like to stay for prayer after the service
o But by inference the man was well known in his community
o He is not shy - he was wealthy
o He was influential; powerful
o So before your too hard on him consider what he did
o He humbles himself
o He ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees before him
o And he asks Jesus the most important question of all ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
o Jesus starts where he is (unlike the woman at the well)
o He was a Jew who grew up with the Old Testament
o Jesus knows what he already knows
o So he says to him ‘you know the commandments’
o You’re a Jew like me, you know what they are
o They have a short discussion
o So he quotes commandments five to nine ‘do not murder, no adultery, no stealing, no false testimony, don’t defraud people, honor your parents
o Jesus is saying you already know what to do
o And the rich young ruler says ‘Jesus I have done all these since I was a boy’
o Do you know the amazing thing about Jesus?
o Do you know the lesson we can learn in dealing with people?
o Jesus never argues with him
o Jesus never judges him
o He doesn’t say come on now, you mean to tell me you never stole anything
o You mean to tell me you have never ever told a little white lie
o No Jesus never does that
o You see the guy simply says I am OK Jesus
o I did all these things consistently since a youth
o Jesus saw his trap
o He was caught up with rules
o Jesus said you have it all wrong
o I did not come for you to follow rules
o I came so you would have the power to live a Christ centred life through a relationship with me
o (Hebrews 9:10 LB). Underline “Christ came with God’s new and better way.” What we’re going to discover this morning is that one reason Jesus came is to replace rules with relationship.
o In Jesus day the Jews thought that the way you rightly relate to God is by keeping a bunch of rules. Jesus said, “Oh, no! The way you rightly relate to God is by having a relationship with Me.”
o The Bible says Jesus loved him
o Do you love people?
o Will you love them even if they reject you and Jesus message
o One thing we miss in this passage
o Jesus never listed the tenth commandment
o Do you know what that is?
o Coveting – excessively desiring what is not mine
o The tenth commandment is "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20:17)."
o The idea is that everything belongs to God – not me
o So Jesus said go sell everything you have and you will have treasure in heaven and then come - and follow me
o Then we read the rich young ruler hung his head in great sadness and walked away
o The amazing thing is Jesus allowed him to go
o As far as we know the man never became a Christian
o The message that we are tempted to proclaim today is ‘young man, hold on a minute here’
o Were being a little too harsh on you
o I mean if your not willing to give up everything to follow Jesus, what parts of your life and your future are you willing to give up
o I mean how about this, how about letting God have just 10% of your wealth
o How about starting at 2% like most and working your way up
o Jesus never did that
o Jesus told him to sell everything he has and give to the poor
o He never said give it all to the poor, he says give to the poor
o And then come and follow me
o Now why was Jesus so seemingly harsh on him
o Why did he ask him to sell all that he had first
o Jesus doesn’t seem to ask others to make a similar commitment
o It is because Jesus knows his heart
o Jesus was not harsh on him at all
o He does not give him a shame based approach to accepting him
o He does not condemn him at all for not following the ten commandments
o Jesus was pointing to a new way
o Christians are not to be under law, but under law and grace
o That meant that through trusting in Jesus we follow the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to live a grace filled Christ centred life
o The New Testament evangelistic approach strongly puts Christ, not law as absolutely central
o Jesus points beyond the commandments to a true spirit of charity and giving
o The young man walked away because he did not want to live by a true spirit of charity
o This is an important point
o The rich young ruler need to give Christ first place in his life
o The ten commandments would not convert his soul
o o Jesus looked at the young man with love to liberate him
o His message was one of grace
o The rich young ruler was truly a captive to things and money
o Jesus saw the stronghold in his heart and offered him freedom
o As far as we know the man never did receive eternal life
o But Jesus never approached him and said lets negotiate
o Don’t let the money issue distract you
o Jesus was getting at something much deeper than money
o The young man had a God
o He coveted his possessions
o Jesus was saying young man, you need a new master, Lord in your life
o Eternal life not a commodity
o Jesus is not a ticket to heaven
o Jesus is a person; he wants you to receive him
o Receiving a person, Jesus through the Spirit, is how one receives eternal life
o The issue was not that the man had lots of money
o The issue was that the money had the man
o Jesus said you cannot serve two gods
o Jesus told him to give up this other God
o He was saying he needed to be willing to de-throne his God and put Christ first
o Jesus tells us we must serve him and serve him only
o Christian life begins with surrender to the Lordship of Christ (Romans 14:9)
o Basic problem is he wanted Christ as his servant but not his master
o Run into lots of people like this; who struggle in this way
o But sometime in the quiet moments they begin to think ‘what happens after I die?’
o Some people come to God looking for help but have no interest in changing the direction of their lives
o Sometimes our God is our money
o Ourselves
o Career
o Family
o And we say ‘if you just trust Jesus everything will be great’
o Christ is not a formula for success
o He is not offering you success; he is offering you himself
o Jesus said "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24).”
o You cannot serve God and ___________________________
o Sometimes people say to me yes I am committed to Jesus and the church
o But then when it comes to basics like regular attendance, baptism, membership, tithing, reading the Bible, following the leaders they are argumentative
o It is like this
o You ask me ‘Randy are you married?”
o My response is I am sort of married
o One week I live like a single, the next like a married person
o Well I am either married or not
o Either I am committed or not
o Let me give you an example
o Let’s say before I was married there were 2 billion eligible single females in the world
o Now many were not my type
o Now for many I am not their type
o So lets say all those are eliminated
o And lets say when I was 24 there were 1,000 possibilities; well only in my dreams
o But Evy was one of the 1,000 so I asked her, she said yes and we got married
o Now at that point the other 999 are off limits; no longer a possibility
o I have to let the other 999 go in my thinking
o In a similar vein Jesus is saying you cannot be devoted to all these competing priorities in your life
o I must become Lord, number one in your life
o Jesus says to met Randy, surrender all of your life to me
o And I will ultimately present you faultless before the Father
o Pastor do I have to give up something to become a Christian?
o Isn’t salvation a free gift?
o Absolutely
o Cannot bargain your way to heaven
o Free gift (Eph. 2:8-10)
o Romans 6:23
o Gift that he offers is himself (John 14:16)
o By believing in the Lord Jesus you will be saved
o Eternal life is not a ticket he is waiving
o After you have the ticket live any way you want
o Then just produce the ticket
o Eternal life is not a ticket it is person
o Jesus desire is to transform you into His image through the Spirit
o So that one day Jesus will say I know Bill
o He is my child
o He trusted in my work on the cross
o He is faultless and blameless because of his faith and my work on the cross
o Salvation is free but it was very costly
o Salvation is about receiving a person, the Lord Jesus
o Not just believing the right stuff
o Following his instructions because he is Lord
o It means a complete change of mind about whom you will serve
o It is marching to the beat of a different drummer
o Will you open your heart to Christ changing your plans
o Are your future and plans up for discussion
o The rich young ruler said no!
o The rich young ruler refused to submit
o What I am saying is Jesus wants to change the whole orientation of your life
o When you say yes your life will never be the same
o He will replace immorality with morality
o Impure thoughts with purity
o An evil lifestyle with a godly one
o Idolatry with loving God first
o Hatred and discord with working together
o Jealousy with a spirit of generosity
o Selfish ambition with humility
o Bitterness and resentment with forgiveness because your master Jesus calls you to it
o There will be times as your pastor when the very thing I am calling you to do is the last thing you will want
o But stay on the fence and God’s promises will not apply
o Eventually I hear from people sitting on the fence
o They say Randy the Christian life does not work for me
o Unless you surrender all you will not receive the full life he has for you
o Submitting to the Lordship of Christ does not mean there are no problems
o But it does mean I give Jesus Christ exclusive right to my life
o I gave you the illustration of marriage
o That does not mean there are not trials and misunderstanding
o That does not mean there will not be sin in our lives
o But despite my failures my relationship with Jesus remains intact
o Jesus asks for a radical change of my attitude and heart
o That is the requirement that the rich young man would not submit to
o Issue is the rich young ruler did not want to give his life over to Jesus
o At least he got off the fence and made a decision
o Can be a regular in church, live a good life and still not be right with God
o Go forward at a Promise Keepers crusade and still not be right with God
o What makes you a child of Jesus is when you have a change of heart and mind regarding Jesus
o If you cannot trust Jesus who can you trust
o All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give
o I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
o I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all. It is about surrendering to Jesus
o The better that you know God the more you will be able to trust him
o I know whom I have believed (not what)
o Let me close this
o It is RRSP season
o Some of you are considering putting some extra into an RRSP to reduce your taxable income
o You have a choice
o You can put it into an bank
o Then the bank will guard what you have entrusted
o Or alternatively you can place in under the mattress
o If I hoard it under a mattress I have to look after it
o But if I leave it in the bank they will look after it
o That is a picture of surrendering my life
o What I do not entrust to him I have to look after myself
o I am on my own
o Will I surrender my studies, dating, future, ministry
o I am to give my ministry to him so I do not have to worry
o Similarly I need to trust Jesus with my eternal future
o God does not send us to hell; we are already condemned
o I would rather walk with God in the dark than walk alone in the light
o So I ask you this morning will you dethrone the other gods in your life
o Will you surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus
o But will you give God room to work
o Or will he just be a piece of an overcrowded life
o Jesus Christ is God’s Son who died on a cross proving His love for you. Jesus rose from the dead proving His identity and His power.
o Wouldn’t you agree that He deserves your full devotion? He wants all of your life. He wants to be the only one you serve. He wants to be your only leader and He wants it all. He wants you to trust Him with all of your life (I want you to turn to someone and say – Jesus wants all of you).
o That is all I have to say
o I have done my very best as your pastor
o The choice is up to you
Prayer Time
