THE P.E.R.K.S. OF CHRIST
JOHN 17: 13-19
There was a group of students in Texas taking a psychology emotional class and the professor wanted to know, what the opposite of happy was….one student raised their and said “sad“….
Then the professor asked…”what’s the opposite of depression“…“elation” another student said…..then the professor said…”what’s the opposite of woe”….one student stands up and says…”giddy-up”
Giddy-up means go…..Go means move….
And when you move…you are not where you were before…..
And that makes should make you happy….
When we are not stuck in the “same ol’ situations” time after time…day after day…year after year, we become happy.
But where does that happiness come from?
Money?
“Oh I’ll be happy when I can finally pay off my house or car loan.”
“I’ll be happy whenever my kids move out.”
“I’ll be happy when I get that promotion.” or “When my boss leaves and we get another one.”
I’ll be happy when I get to be a grown up and move out from underneath my demon parents house because they are always telling me what to do because I’m a grown up even though I’m only 14, I still know more than them and I hate them because they just don’t understand and we can’t get along.”
I’m sure you heard this before: “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. He wants you to have true happiness and to fill
the God-shaped vacuum in your heart that you’ve been trying to fill with sex, drugs, alcohol, and money.”
Or how about this one….Jesus is love…Jesus is happiness…”
This is how it should be:
“I’m happy because:” God has provided me with life. I know that since I accepted Christ and walk with Christ, I have escaped the wrath to come.
God gave me a lovely wife and kids that I can lead spiritually and know that they have the Holy Spirit living within them.
I’m happy because my parents took the time to discipline me when I was doing wrong.
They took the time to ride me like a train until I got it through my thick skull and showed them respect.
Because if they didn’t who knows if I would even be alive today.
I am not perfect, and I will never be, but God loves me anyway.
Not a lot of people answer that way…..
A study was done and found the following:
Students at Harvard University were given a choice of 2 worlds to live in….
In world 1: They made 50-thousand a year….while everyone else made 25-thousand a year……
In world 2: They made 100-thousand a year and everyone else made 250-thousand a year…..
The majority of the students choose World 1, where they made 50-thousand a year…..
Is it because money did not mean happiness?
No….they choose world number 1, even though they made less money, because in world 2, someone would be making more than them…..
That’s why economic growth does not promote happiness….money does not promote happiness….
Example…..: You have three Olympic medalist on the platform….
Gold….Silver and Bronze….The bronze medalist rates themselves much higher and happier than the Silver Medalist….
Why?
Because at least he has a medal…for that, he is thankful.
The Gold medal winner is thinking…“Yeah I got the gold….but there’s someone chasing me that could take it away…”
The Silver medal winner is thinking,…”Man, I was so close….I just wasn’t good enough to win the gold…..I’m almost at the bottom….”
The saying goes….”I complained that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”
What does all of this mean…..Let’s read the scripture:
(Read John 17:13-19)
There is your reason to be happy in life….in everything that you do, say, and have.
When you open your heart to God and accept Christ….you cannot be destroyed….
You can fall on hard times…you can go through troubles…but you cannot be destroyed….that’s a perk of being saved…..having Christ as your Savior….
Of course the ultimate goal….is to escape the wrath that is to come….the wrath of God…..to escape being tortured, tormented and spending eternity in Hell….
You get perks…..
What are perks?
Perks are: benefits or incentives
Becoming a follower of Christ has the best perks that anyone could ever offer.
Yes you do find love, happiness and God the Son does fill that God-shaped vacuum in your heart that you’ve been trying to fill with sex, drugs, alcohol, and money.”
If we go back to the scripture and look at verse 13 - 15 it says;
13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
Jesus prayed for you before he died.
He knew what he was going to go through.
He knew that he was going to be beaten to a point that any other man would not be able to survive.
He knew those stakes that were about to be pounded through his hands and feet were going to be the worst pain anyone could ever feel.
He knew that hanging up there just waiting to die was going to be agonizing and unbearable.
But he had one thing in his corner. Love.
Love for God The Father…love for you.
When he was praying the prayer of John 17, he was praying for you.
That’s love.
When you pray for somebody and it has meaning, that’s love.
Jesus new this; He knew that you and I were going to go through hard times.
Verse 14: I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
Then he prays that God always give us the strength to get through it and be stronger, by allowing us to face what the enemy puts in front of us.
Verse 15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
Then Jesus prays that God stays with us and gives us the direction and fire to move forward.
Verse 17: Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
Verse 18: Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
The amplified puts it this way: Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.
Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
And finally, in that part of the prayer that Christ is praying for you…
He shows us of the great thing he is about to do for us, because we can not earn our way into heaven….there is only one way and one way only.
Verse 19: And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
So, what are the perks of accepting Christ as your savior?
1: Promise: You know that no matter what the enemy throws in front of you, you can handle it because you have the backing of God.
2: Eternity: You know that since you have accepted Christ and once you have acknowledged what he did for you, you spend the rest of your life with him, even after your body dies. You go to Heaven
3: Rewards: We often hear that Jesus was a gift to us, John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
You could also use that in “Eternity”.
Did you know that you are a gift to Jesus?
How does that make you feel?
4: Kindness: Because of the love and the teachings from Christ,you’ll want to be more kind and love one another.
After all this is his command. John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
5: Serenity: Happiness in all of life. When things are going good…and especially when things are going bad.
(End with prayer)
