Sermon Brief
Date Written: October 12, 2009
Date Preached: October 18, 2009
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: FEAR – A Believers Worst Enemy
Sermon Title: FEAR – bad perception of who You are…
Sermon Text: Romans 8:5-17 [NKJV]
5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Introduction:
Today I want to wrap up this short 2 sermon series about FEAR. Last week I spoke to you about how FEAR can paralyze us when we have the wrong perception about who God is… and what we learned is that when our view of God is cheapened or distorted we cannot live the lives He has called us to live! This tells us that our perception of who God is… is vital to how we overcome fear and live a victorious life!
However, I believe there to be another reason why we seem to live our lives paralyzed in fear. There is another reason why we don’t live the abundant life that Christ has promised us! I believe that it is because we have the wrong perception of who WE are in light of a holy God!
When we have the wrong perception of who we are as believers it skews our view and perception of who God is AND it leaves us feeling alone and unprepared for what God has called us to do… and we then begin to try to DO things on our own instead of relying on the power God has promised! And that is where we fail and fall on our face as believers!
How should we view ourselves? Well, when we look at Scripture we can see that humanity is trumpeted as the crowning achievement of God’s creation! However, we can also see that humanity is flawed in that we rebelled against God and brought sin into the world!
It seems as if humanity has always chosen to seek their own way instead of seeking God’s way. Now when we have this view of humanity, we can know that our view of God the Creator is in its proper perspective…When we see ourselves as painted by Scripture we can know that GOD is a loving and caring Creator who only wants what is best for His creation. His desire is to redeem us and reconcile us back to HIM!
But when we look around in our world today, the view of humanity is just the opposite and likewise the view of God is a polar opposite of how Scripture depicts God.
In today’s world, secular humanism sees humanity as the source of good… as a god unto themselves! It only matters what YOU believe individually, as long as you are true to yourself. This view of humanity causes God to be irrelevant and unnecessary… It is the wrong perception of who we are!
But some other aspects of this world view humanity as a cancer on the environment and life in general and not as God’s crowning achievement. They do not see humanity as God’s ultimate creation but only as a force of destruction toward the balance of the earth.
Humanity is often looked upon by this sort of group as an outside force that is draining the resources and beauty from this planet, so if we are only here to please ourselves… then there is NO need for a God in their way.
With this view of humanity, secular humanists make some pretty wild leaps about humanity… striking out at humanity for all the worlds ills. And on the one hand claiming that God does not exist or that God is irrelevant… but on the other hand blaming God for the maladies of this world!
Reverential Awe and Overall Fear of God… what is a definition of the proper FEAR of God? What does a proper perception of God do for the individual? It can produce:
1) A restraint on evil; 2) Salvation to the lost; and 3) Spiritual growth to the believer. These things lead to changes in our lives, changes that affect who we are, how we view life, how we act in public and in private, but mostly it affects how we worship God.
When we have the wrong vision of who we are, there is a FEAR that is realized: That fear is usually manifested in one specific phrase:
I can’t because…
I don’t know how… don’t have the knowledge…
I don’t want to be persecuted or made fun of…
I don’t want to get rejected…don’t want to fail…
I don’t want to offend anyone
But the fact of the matter is… is that when we see ourselves in the light of Scripture and thru the lens of God, our fears are absolved, and the negative manifestation of ‘I can’t’ is reversed and it becomes…
I can because –
I can know how… I can have the knowledge…
I can read and study Scripture
I can memorize Scripture
I can read books about God
I can stay up to date on the things of the Kingdom
I don’t care if I am persecuted…
For the believer persecution is to be expected (1 Pet 4:16 read now)
Jim Elliot example 1956, Equador, Auca Indians, martyred; quote "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Look to Jesus for our example, Matt 16:21
I care if I get rejected…Success in Christ is not defined by worldly standards, but only in terms of absolute submission and obedience to Him and His Word…
Do you remember King Saul? 1 Sam 15:22 [NLT] says, 22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
Success in God’s eyes is obedience and submission. It doesn’t matter how many ‘sacrifices’ or ‘accomplishments’ you achieve FOR the Kingdom, if you are NOT obedient your success is not pleasing to God. Do not worry about how the world keeps score… we must be concerned with how God keeps score.
And what about perseverance under the stress of failure? So many times we feel like failures and we are urged by the Holy Spirit to press on… to not be discouraged, we need to always look to Christ as our example but we also can look at some others too for inspiration… when failure seemed to be the ONLY option these people refused to quit and succeeded because of their persistence…
Thomas Edison – quotes on failure/not fearing it…
I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
William Carey Illustration
Left England in April 1793 for India, but was delayed En route and stranded on the Isle of Wright
Found a way to India and arrived in Nov 1793
He work feverishly for many yrs with NO visible successes…until 1800 when the 1st convert was saved
Carey’s life was hard as he lost his wife and 2 children while serving in India. He lost most of those who had come with him or followed him to India, but he persevered on…
He translated the Bible into 44 different languages and dialects and even a fire that destroyed much of his work in 1812, Carey remained in India until his death, translating and leading others to Christ!
Carey died in 1834 while still teaching and translating God’s Word into the cultural languages…
Jesus example
Jesus was a man who the world would NOT consider successful
He wrote NO books, He held NO office, He had NO formal job, He owned NOTHING, He was a nomad and in the eyes of society in the 1st century He accomplished nothing more than the irritation and wrath of the religious leaders
Jesus was ridiculed by Jewish leaders, Jesus was persecuted and eventually put to death by the Romans at the request of His own people, He was crucified between 2 thieves which was the ultimate humiliation.
Jesus seemingly died when He was the most popular and many believed He would fade out of history for good… BUT
In the eyes of the world Jesus was a failure, but in the eyes of God, Jesus was just what the doctor ordered… He accomplished the redemption process by which man can know God…
Jesus did not fold under pressure but instead was faithful and obedient to His calling from God.
But preacher, what if those I am trying to tell the story of Christ to don’t want to hear it… what if they believe something else… how will I handle that… I cannot do this because I am afraid that I will offend someone…
As believers we cannot worry about offending people…
REASON: The Gospel is confrontational by its very nature
Why? reveals sin and sinful nature
People don’t want to be told they are wrong
Question: Would rather offend someone or resign them to hell?
Illustration of elderly woman in crosswalk with bus coming and she does not see the bus…what R U going to do, let her get hit with the bus? NO! You are going to shout at her and run after her to save her from the bus… well that is how we must be with those who are lost and headed down a pathway of destruction…
When we see ourselves as heirs to the throne and empowered by God Himself thru the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can know that WE CAN do anything in Him!
Paul was very adamant in Phil 4:13… this was not some namby-pamby proclamation, but it was a forceful declaration that told the world that NOTHING was going to stand in His way because the Christ He serves will make a way!
Today in the church we have so many people who are going thru the motions and living their lives in fear and trembling. Either they do not know Christ as Savior OR they refuse to submit to Him as Lord of their life and they try to do all things by themselves!
But we cannot live victoriously like that…we have to know who we are, and that is fully dependent on HIM! When we have that understanding our life is without fear because we know whom we serve and Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.
What about you today? Are you living that victorious life that Christ desires you to live? Or are you living in fear? Are you just going thru the motions!
I once heard a story about how many years ago a man conned his way into the orchestra of the emperor of China although he could not play a note.
Whenever the group practiced or performed, he would hold his flute against his lips, pretending to play but not making a sound. He received a modest salary an enjoyed a comfortable living.
Then one day the emperor requested a solo from each musician. The flutist got nervous. There wasn’t enough time to learn the instrument. He pretended to be sick, but the royal physician wasn’t fooled. On the day of his solo performance, the impostor took poison and killed himself.
The explanation of his suicide led to a phrase that found its way into the English language: “He refused to face the music.” (Just Like Jesus; Max Lucado)
Today, there are many believers who are pretending to be a part of God’s orchestra by just blending in with the crowd and going through the motions.
And to be honest with you it is not going to be noticed that much here on earth because you can say the right things, go to the right places, and hang out with the right people.
And those who live like this can enjoy the comfort of being accepted by the fellowship of believers, but there IS coming a day when you will HAVE to face the music!
There is going to be a day where you will be separated from everything. On that day you will stand alone before God and give an account for your life, your decisions, and whether or not you were taped into the living water.
As believers, we must be confident in our God, and this will lead to confidence in our service to Him. A man who had a farm on a stormy coast of North Carolina was trying to hire a man to work on his farm, but because of the many storms that came to the area, this man could not find anyone to work.
Finally one day an elderly man who was not that assuming came in and applied for the job. He asked this elderly man if he thought he could do the job and he said, "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows!" Although the farmer was puzzled by this answer, desperate for help, he hired him. The man worked well around the farm, and was busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer was satisfied with the man’s work.
Then one night the wind howled in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows." Enraged by the old man’s response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.
To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.
The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, and he returned to bed to also sleep while the wind blew. The Moral of The Story Is This! When you’re prepared, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?
This man was able to sleep soundly in the storms of life because he knew where he stood, he knew he had taken care of what needed to be taken care of… He was able to live victoriously and rest serenely even when it seemed he should not be…
What about you this morning? Does FEAR rule your life… does fear dominate your decisions? We cannot allow FEAR to be our ruler… and for those of us in Christ… for those of us who understand who He is and who WE are in Him… we can do anything for the kingdom!
Are you ready to get busy for the kingdom now! I want to challenge us to step up our efforts in winning this community to Christ! I want to RIGHT now set a goal for our fellowship!
You know if you shoot at NOTHING you are going hit it EVERYTIME! We need a goal…something to shoot for… and I want that goal for our church to be over the next 15 months… thru Dec 2010, I want our goal to be 25 baptisms! Now I believe this a God sized goal that may SEEM impossible, but I claim what Paul claimed… We can do ALL things thru the Christ who dwells in us… are you ready to get busy for the kingdom?
As Steven comes to offer our invitation hymn, I challenge all believers here today to challenge yourself in personal evangelism and witnessing… make a promise to yourself and to God that you will share your faith at least one time a week… If we are faithful, God will bless our efforts!
Won’t you come this morning and give yourself to God and submit and surrender your life to Him in total obedience to His calling? Come as we begin to sing!
