The Power Of Christ To Change
9/7/08 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 Philippians 3:1-16
How many of you remember the story in which a lady with wings and a beautiful dress waved her magic wand and mice became horses and a pumpkin became a golden carriage. A servant girl in rags became a princess with glass slippers. Wouldn’t it be nice if all that we needed in life was for someone to wave a wand over us our pour some oil on our heads and instantly we would be changed. Well there are no mice who have become horses, no pumpkins that have turned into golden carriages, no servants who have instantly become princesses and no outpouring of oil that will change us.
But there is a power available to make a difference in your life. How many of you are willing to admit, you need to make some changes in your life, because you’re not what you know you ought to be and you know you’re not what you could be, and you recognize you’ve still got a ways to go to get to where God wants you to be. As Christians, we say we want to be more like Jesus, but we act as though we intend to do it by having Jesus change to become more like us. No—we are the ones who are to change.
Let me tell you the story of two guys from our Scripture reading. One guy, Manassah, we’ll call him Manny for short” had a father who was a king who had loved the Lord, and did his best in trying to get the people to follow after the Lord. When the king died, Manny was just 12 years old when he became king and had a 55 year reign. Manny started out partying as a king, He got involved with wine, women, and song very early, and Manny threw God right out of his life and the life of the nation.
He wouldn’t listen to anybody including the prophets of God. Some think Manny had the prophet Isaiah sawn in half. He was just a wicked man and led a nation astray into worshiping false gods. God begged him and pleaded with him to change, but he wouldn’t. God said enough is enough. Finally God sent the Assyrian army against Manny and not only did they defeat Manny’s army, they captured him, put a ring through his nose, bound him in chains, and led him away as a prisoner of war.
This former mighty king is now in rags, in chains, in prison, and in need of a change. He had but one hope, and it was in none of the things he had trusted in when he supposedly had it all. The bible tells us, that in his distress, Manny sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
Manny knew he needed a change on the inside before expecting God to do something on the outside. When Manassah prayed to God, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his prayer. God worked this thing out and took Manny back out of prison, sent him home and put him back on the throne. The remaining years of his life was spent trying to enter into a right relationship with God to make a difference in the lives of others. He found a power in God to change.
The other guy was one of the great prosecutors of his time. His name was Saul, and he bitterly opposed anyone he did not agree with his theological position. He arrested Jews who had the audacity to believe in Jesus Christ. He threw men and women in prison, not caring a thing about who would take care of their children. He tried to build cases against them so that he could go after the death penalty.
When given the opportunity he would cast the deciding vote against them in death penalty cases. He was not happy just going after those in his own jurisdiction, he got permission to arrest those outside his jurisdiction and bring them back to try them in court. He had become a twisted evil prosecutor at best and a murderer at worse. There was no sense of compassion about him all. If you named the name of Jesus Christ in his face, there’s no telling what might have happened to you.
Then one day when he was angry there were no Christians he could get his hands on in Jerusalem, so he got permission to go find some in Damascus and bring them to Jerusalem to try them and throw them into prison. His hatred for the name of Jesus Christ was tremendous. He took some men with him, and headed for Damascus to satisfy his vengeance for the blood of Christians.
On the way there however, about noon suddenly a bright light surrounded him. The light appeared so quickly and was so intense and, he fell to the ground. He then heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting met.” Saul had no idea who the voice was or where it was coming from. He asked, “Who are you Lord.”
The voice responded “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.” When the light and the voice left, Saul was left blind for three days. God restored his sight when a Christian by the name of Ananais laid hands on him and prayed for him. That Saul became the Apostle Paul, and he spent the rest of his life seeking to enter into a right relationship with God, to make a difference in the lives in others. Paul had encountered the power of Jesus Christ to change. He went from a proud, arrogant, and abusive prosecutor, into a man with a humble spirit, willing to say to yes to whatever God asked of him.
Paul had this incredible experience of meeting Jesus Christ on that road. Think for a moment of a celebrity you would like to meet. Suppose you met the person and came back and told us about it. If you keep telling us about the meeting, we will get tired of hearing about it. If you keep telling us how great this person is, sooner or later we are going to say, well has this person done anything for you that you keep on raving about it.
Paul recognized it was not enough to simply meet Jesus. He knew that Jesus was not some kind of celebrity or superstar that you meet, and then go away telling everyone how wonderful it was that you had met Jesus. He knew the meeting was intended to make a change in him.
We see in Philippians 3:10 (NIV) “10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Let me ask you something, how many of you know “Michelle Obama. If I were to tell you she was coming over to our house, what would be a great meal to serve her, you could probably make some suggestions.
But if you actually knew Michelle, you could tell me what she likes and what she doesn’t like. You could tell me if she’s allergic to certain foods. You could tell me what type of drink to serve her. What her favorite desert was. What music to put in the background.
When Paul says I want to know Christ, he’s saying I want to have the necessary knowledge of who Jesus is so that when he comes to me, Jesus is going to feel right at home. I want to make the necessary changes and steps in me so that Jesus is comfortable with me and I’m comfortable with Jesus. How many of you have been in situations where it has been awkward having Jesus around? As a matter of fact, you almost try to pretend that Jesus no longer even exists. You know that what you are about to do or about to say is going to make Jesus very uncomfortable, because it makes you uncomfortable to think about Jesus looking at you while you are speaking or saying whatever it is.
Now Paul says I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. The power that came out of the resurrection, was the power to take something that was dead and bring it back to life. Jesus had been dead for three days. There was no movement, no brain activity, no nothing.
And then all of a sudden this immense power comes forth, that causes the earth to shake, and Jesus comes back to life. Jesus comes back to life, in order to give us life to change the bodies we are in.
Now the bible tells us, we are dead in sin. Our spirits are dead to desiring the things of God. But our flesh or earthly desires are alive and well. In other words it comes natural for us to do wrong. There is nothing brave about giving in to temptation. It’s the natural thing to do, and that’s why so many of us do it.
It takes power to choose the will of God for our lives. Paul knew the key to knowing the power of the resurrection is to first know Christ. When I am walking in a knowledge of who Christ is, I will receive the power of the resurrection to stay alive in Christ.
Now we say that our purpose is to enter into a right relationship with God. Too many of are under the false belief that this is a one time process in which we entered and got everything we needed. When you enter into a grocery store, you do not get everything you need for life. You get what you need for that week or that day, and you know you will have to enter into the grocery store again.
When you enter into a job. You know that just getting that job and entering into the plant or the office is not going to be enough. If you want a regular paycheck, you have to keep on entering. When you enter into a marriage by saying I do, you very quickly realize, that one time “I do” is not enough. You have to have days filled with not only saying “I do’ but actually getting around to doing it.
When we enter into a right relationship with God we usually do not stay there. It’s not that we’re no longer saved, but we’re no longer in the place we should be. No personal relationship stays in right relationship if you continue to interact with each other. Misunderstandings are going to occur.
There are a whole lot of things that very quickly help us get out of that right relationship with God. How many of you have been minding your own business, when somebody came and said something to you without cause, and before you know it, you were ready to put God in other room so that you could deal with this person, the way you felt like the person needed to be dealt with.
Now if you are striving to know Christ, you know Christ wants to be with you in dealing with this person. Christ wants the power of his resurrection, to hold back and put to death your response, and to allow a different attitude to be created in you that’s about to come forth. This is what we mean when we talk about the power of Christ to change.
Now I shared the story of Manny and of Saul, to show you that these guys were dirty, lowdown, murderers who were way outside of God’s will for their lives. Yet both of them found the power of God to change on the inside. Very few of us have done the kind of things they did, not because we are better than they were, some of us just didn’t get the chance to do it.
All of us are capable of the worst kind of sin. If you tell somebody, so and so took an ax and chopped twenty people up into pieces, we will say how on earth can somebody think to do something like that. Then if they said “I got the picture here of the bodies and pieces laying all around, do you want to see them.” Most of us can’t wait to see these pictures of this awful evil that has been done. Now isn’t it sick of us to want to see this evil.
We continually walk around with things inside of us that the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has to destroy. But if we do not know Christ and how Christ feels about our behaviors, we become comfortable with the behavior, thinking that Christ is comfortable with it. Sometimes our deodorant may stop working for whatever reason. We can get comfortable with the smell, because it gradually has built up through the day.
But the moment, we sit next to someone, there head turns immediately in the other direction. We don’t know what their problem is being so rude. It does not occur to us, that we are the source of the problem and why they are trying to scoot down a little. We may want to get to know them, but we have to first understand how we are offending them and make some changes.
We have spiritual odors that keep us from getting to know Christ. Unless we deal with the odor by admitting it’s there, we’re not going to know the power of the resurrection of Christ to be washed clean of it. What odor do you have this morning. What’s my odo today.
Manassah and Saul had a terrible odors of pride, of anger, and of unforgiveness. They would not listen to anybody telling them what to do. Manassah enjoyed living for himself with all kinds of pleasure. Saul enjoyed seeing others suffer.
One of the best things we can today is to take a sniff of our lives and see what’s beginning to stink. Most stink comes on us just a little sniff at a time, because we’ve neglected doing things to keep the stink from happening.
At the start of our vacation, I downloaded several messages on marriage, one was “Christian Husbands”, “Respect”, “Loving Your Wife” and “Communication.” As I listened to the messages, I began to realize, I was really starting to stink in my marriage and not realize it.
There were so many little things that I wasn’t investing in that was robbing my wife of the husband she deserved. My recognition of my stink helped me to see that some of the problems I was attributing to my wife, were really things I need to be working on for myself. I needed to know the power of the resurrection to put some things in me to death.
One thing I know is that when I am not actively trying to know Christ, I’m backsliding and starting to accept things that He does not want me to accept. It can be an attitude of impatience. It can be a tone in my voice. It can be an unwillingness to compromise. It can be a desire to think my way is the best way or the only way. When I see these things I have to admit, I am no longer in a right relationship with God. I am no longer in a right relationship with my wife. I am choosing a life of misery. The only way I can get back into that right relationship is through confession and repentance. I have to say, I have failed and I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.
The words which follow the power of his resurrection, are the words and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death. Do not think you can know Christ and it will give you a ticket to escape pain and suffering. If you try to enter into a right relationship with God, the devil is going to challenge your level of commitment. Somebody is going to give you the opportunity to either blow it or to get to know Christ even better.
In order to say yes to the Father, Jesus had some nails put in his hands and feet. That’s suffering. Jesus had some betrayal take place from those he loved. That’s suffering. Jesus had some gossip thrown at him and some spit and slaps in the face. That’s suffering. But Jesus put the power of his resurrection into motion so that it could be launched at the right time, by praying in advance “Father forgive them, because they do no know what they’re doing.”
I don’t know what change you need to make today, but you do and God does. It wasn’t until Manassah sunk to as low as he could get before he turned to God. You don’t have to wait to sink that low. You can enter into a right relationship with God right now. Why not think for a moment, where God wants you to make something right? Will you right now pledge to do it. Think about where you blew it and how God wants you to handle it differently the next time? Will you commit right now to do it.
Instead of asking God to get rid of the stink of someone else, take a moment to ask where you’ve been offensive to God in your treatment of another. Decide right now, to accept the challenge to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and be willing to share in his sufferings, by allowing parts of you to be put to death. As we prepare our hearts for communion, let us decide to also be broken so that we can be made whole. For when we are willing to be broken we give the power of Christ permission to change us.
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick 9/7/2008
The Power To Change
2 Chronicles 33:1-20 Philippians 3:1-16
A. Is There Something Magic In The Air
1. The Mice, Horses, Pumpkin Carriage
2. The Special Oil
3. Yes, I’m Not All That
4. More Like Jesus Or Jesus Like Me
B. The King Mannassah –Manney
1. 12, 55, Party
2. I Don’t Have To Listen –Isaiah
3. God Pleads, Assyrian, Chains, Bondage
4. In His Distress—he Sought The Lord
5. God Returns To The Throne
C. The Great Prosecutor
1. Men & Women To Prison To Death
2. Pursue To The Ends Of The Earth
3. The Road To Damascus
4. Encounter With Jesus
5. Changed After The Meeting
D. What Happen When You Meet A Star
1. When A Meeting Is Not Enough
Philippians 3:10 (NIV) 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
2. Know Michelle Obama
3. Help Me Out With Dinner
4. Knowledge To Make Comfortable
5. Uncomfortable With Jesus
E. The Power Of The Resurrection
1. From Death To Life
2. Jesus—No Nothing, To Life
3. Sin Comes Naturally & Easy
4. Power To Choose The Will Of God
F. How Many Times Must I Enter
1. Store, Job, Marriage
2. Enter But Don’t Stay
3. All Relationships Changing
4. Power Of Christ Keeps You There
5. Knowledge Of Christ Determines
G. We All Need A Savior
1. From Manny To Saul
2. From Ax User To Viewer
3. We All Have The Threat
4. Comfortable With Sin
H. Can We Start To Stink
1. When The Deodorant Wear Off
2. Not Realizing The Smell
3. Power Of The Resurrection Washes
4. Odors We Need To Release
5. Being Honest With The Sniffs
6. Husband Gone Astray
7. If Not Active—Then Backsliding
8. Attitude, Tone, Stubbornness
I. The Fellowship Of Suffering
1. No Free Ticket
2. Opportunity Abounds
3. Suffering Is Real
4. Put Power In Motion
J. It’s Time For A Self Check
1. How Low Will You Go
2. God I’m Listening
3. Choose To Be Broken
