Bunbury
Sun am
2/10/2011
“The Real you”
Intro: *** To Tell the Truth…US TV program that has been going in one form or another since 1956. Four celebrities attempt to correctly identify a contestant with an unusual occupation or experience by asking a series of questions or gauging their responses to various circumstances. He sits with two imposters…central character sworn to tell the truth while other contestants can lie. Panel then attempts to identify which of the three challengers is telling the truth. Finishes with the line, “Would the real _ _ _ _ _ _ _ please stand up?”
It has aired at least one episode for 6 consecutive decades…I believe its success largely due to people identifying with the struggle! Not just trying to identify others but the real you!
Life is not a game show & your response to life’s circ / questions ultimately reveals the real you!!!
I want to preach a sermon tonight on ‘The real you’.
Text: John 1:41-42 ( NKJV ) 41He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
# 1. The power of a good example.
A. Good example is God’s method.
a. And there’s not one of us that don’t need or can’t benefit from the power of a good example.
i. It’s amazing how many people are striving to be individual today …..
*** Interesting to note that the rugged individual is doing exactly the same thing as every other rugged individual.
I went & got a long sleeve Tattoo b/c I’m my own man just like every other individual w/ a long sleeve.
Expanders in the ears …. My individual choice …… just like everyone else!
ii. There aren’t too many today who can truly claim to be individual – when you look at it pretty well every individual is copying some other individual.
iii. God calls us to be follows of good example ….. listen to what Paul says here –
1 Corinthians 11:1 ( NKJV ) 1Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
iv. That’s what true discipleship is about …. Not just doing what suits you, what you think but following men of example as they follow Christ.
v. The Bible warns that the road to individualism is the road of demise.
Proverbs 14:12 ( NKJV ) 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
vi. Good example is something that God uses to keep us on track & in right r/s w/ Him & others.
B. This method has its dangers.
a. The inherent danger is this: We can follow good example for years w/o ever b/co a good example.
i. Human nature is such that we have the ability to project an image of what we would like people to think we are w/o ever being that person.
ii. Some of God’s people live permanently in the fear of being found out …… if they knew who I was they wouldn’t like me.
iii. The danger of playing to this kind of thinking is that we eventually b/co skilled at being someone other than who we really are.
*** There are a number of stories about how Charlie Chaplin, the famed actor of the silent movie era entered a ‘Charlie Chaplin look-alike competition’ & came second or third!!! While it isn’t clear whether he came second or third what is clear is that he entered a look-alike competition & failed to win in looking like himself!
iv. But what we are concerned w/ here is the same problem ….. failing to look like / appear as ourselves.
*** I remember walking into a Hungry Jacks store in Perth when I was a teenager one Saturday night when something strange was happening. At that time the T.V. hit series ‘Happy Days’ was the latest & greatest thing to hit television. Everyone particularly loved The Fonz played by Henry Winkler. In every episode the Fonz would express himself on at least one occasion with his trademark – Hey! In the unique tone in which he did it. On this particular Saturday night it appeared as though every young man in the restaurant had b/co the Fonz. There were Hey’s! everywhere!!!
v. The danger is that we can get to the place where we are afraid to be our/s b/c we don’t receive someone else’ approval.
# 2. What’s behind the image?
A. There is a profound danger of our lives being image w/o substance.
*** Aimi Eguchi was announced as the latest member of the Japanese AKB48, a popular group with an ever-revolving roster of singers, the Washington Post reported.
Aimi made her debut appearance in an advertisement for Ezaki Glico lollies, a rapid promotion given that product endorsements are usually reserved for more senior members of the 62-person group.
Aimi's sudden fame raised the suspicions of fans used to seeing AKB48 members rise through the ranks based on the support of fans in an annual Idol-style competition.
Japanese music fans have been surprised to discover the newest member of one of the country's leading pop groups is a digital mash-up of the other singers.
Earlier this week Ezaki Glico admitted to the hoax, revealing Aimi's flawless appearance was a composite of three other members of the group.
a. The danger that we face is that we could begin to project the image of successful Christianity w/o being a successful Christian!
i. It’s not hard for someone to project the appearance of w/o having the substance & character of a Christian.
ii. Beware of the pitfall of being Christian merely in externals …. The outward façade of faith w/o being a real man/woman of faith.
iii. Listen to the words of Jesus in the parable when he says …..
Matthew 7:22-23 ( NKJV ) 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
iv. We all face the very real danger of being as deep as a teaspoon ….. no depth substance to our lives, Christian in name only.
*** Recently I heard about a couple who lived in an English manor who outwardly appeared to be very wealthy. But the truth is that although the outward appearance of the manor was quite grand in reality the people lived in two rooms b/c the manor was falling down & they didn’t have the financial resources to restore it.
It looked wealthy & grand on the outside but inside it was in a state of ruin.
*** I’m sure that most of us have seen an old western movie at some time where the cowboy rides into town down the main street past a number of fancy looking old western buildings.
But the fact is that if you go onto one of these movie sets what you discover is that the front of the building is the only part that exists. It’s just a street full of building fronts w/ no structure behind the front wall!!!
No rooms, no facilities just an elaborate front propped up to form the appearance of a town.
v. It’s possible for your Christian life to be just that – a front! Grand on the outside but crumbling on the inside!!!
*** One day a guy named F***z who was coming to our church for a while came over to my house. F***z was from another church but would come regularly to our church. He knew what we stood for & what we didn’t stand for.
My wife had been making some ginger beer (non alcoholic) & she had been collecting old empty beer bottles to bottle the ginger beer. As F***z came into our house I asked him if he wanted a drink. He quickly accepted my offer & I reached into the cupboard & pulled out a bottle of ginger beer. The only problem was that the bottle still had a Melbourne Bitter label on it so it looked like a bottle of beer. I decided to do a little conviction test on F***z & I asked him if he wanted a beer. He looked at the bottle w/ the Melbourne bitter label on it & looked at me & said rather reluctantly “Yeh, alright!”
W/o breaking eye contact w/ him I said “It’s ginger beer F***z not real beer ….. you didn’t think I’d drink real beer did you?”
To this question an embarrassed F***z responded by saying “Oh right, yeh, of course.”
vi. Are you committed to the character of a Christian or just the name of a Christian?
vii. Jesus was never impressed w/ hypocrisy & he reserved His most scathing rebukes for those who paraded the outward façade of Christianity w/o having the heart of a Christian.
B. What we need to u/s is that Jesus is committed to turning the image into a reality.
a. What we think we are & what Jesus knows we are can often be two different things.
Matthew 26:33-35 ( NKJV ) 33Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” 34Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.
i. Jesus is able to see the delusion of our hearts & He is committed to confronting us w/ those delusions.
ii. Jesus in confronting Peter was not shy / reserved / timid …… He lets him have it right between the eyes!
iii. This is what is at the heart of true discipleship & genuine Christianity.
Jer 17:9 (TMSG) 9“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.
Jeremiah 17:9 ( NKJV ) 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
iv. Who can know it? Jesus does!
# 3. You shall be!
*** Some years ago the tennis world was dominated by Australia. Two of the champions in those days were Rod "Rocket" Laver and Ken "Muscles" Rosewell.
Do you know why they had those nicknames? Coach Harry Hopman gave Rod Laver the nickname "Rocket" because he was so slow-footed! And he gave Ken Rosewell the nickname "Muscles" because he was so weak and frail!
It was meant not as sarcasm, but as motivation. Coach Hopman saw in those men characteristics which weren't even there, not that anyone could "see"!
A. God actually has a vision for your life that you actually need to live up to.
a. Listen again to the words Jesus speaks to Peter.
Vs 42. “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
i. God has the vision of what we can be constantly w/i His view.
ii. Consider one of – possibly even the greatest overstatements in the history of the world ever made about men & it was spoken by God Himself!
Judges 6:12 (AMP) And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of [fearless] courage.
iii. Consider this – As the Angel of the Lord is speaking these words to Gideon he is actually hiding behind the winepress from his enemies!!!
b. Bearing this fact in mind ….. what kind of disparity might there be between what God sees you as right now & what you are right now?
i. Your perception of yourself is probably nothing like the vision God has of you.
ii. And the great challenge is to bring your perception of yourself into alignment w/ the vision of what God has for you.
iii. The set of your sail in life needs to be such that you are always plotting a course towards God’s vision for your life.
iv. So getting back to the question – what is the gap between what you are today & God’s vision of you?
B. How can I narrow the gap?
a. First of all – God knows who you are!
i. There is no sense in posturing b/4 God, putting on an image / façade / front ……. God knows the difference between our digital image & the real person.
Psalms 139:1-3 ( NKJV ) 1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
Psalms 103:14 (TMSG) 14He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
ii. Knowing this truth is what causes us to maintain integrity in a personal prayer life – you have to have integrity in your personal prayer life!
iii. We find Adam after the fall when God comes looking for him ……. But God already knows where he is.
iv. There’s no sense in trying to hide the real you from God in prayer … phrases / routine / litany – try pouring your heart out b/4 God who already knows you – spill your guts to God.
v. Jesus took one look at Peter & said – you are Jonah’s son!
vi. You are a son / daughter of the total influences of your life up to this date – Jesus knows your past!
b. Secondly – your past is not a hindrance to God’s future for you.
*** Every time we visit C***l’s parents her father J**k tells me how a heart specialist in Perth has given him a death sentence b/c he has told him he can’t do anything w/ his heart.
i. As Jesus looks at your heart He may detect failure of ……. character / integrity / r/s / personality but Jesus still looks at your heart & He can do something w/ it.
c. Get your perception in line w/ God’s perception of you.
i. You are going to have to take deliberate steps to begin to see your life …. Now & into the future ….. in the same positive light that God sees it.
Vs 42. “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas”
*** If J**a G***d said it was raining outside on a stormy day I’d have to go & check to make sure it was true! But if it was a cloudless blue sky & God said it was raining outside I could be perfectly confident that it was raining!!!
ii. To bring your perception in line w/ God’s perception it requires a deliberate faith in that direction – speaking / acting in agreement w/ God’s vision for your future.
Matthew 9:18 ( NKJV ) 18 ……a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.”
iii. This father began speaking in agreement w/ the future will of God for his daughter who at that present time was dead – you can do the same thing!
d. Work to bring it into reality.
i. The four gospels & the book of Acts are testimony of the fact that Peter in an ongoing process began to surrender his life to b/co Cephas Jesus had called him to be.
ii. Peter b/ca what Christ prophesied he would be b/c he worked to bring it to reality.
iii. If you will labour towards God’s plan for your life ….. what God has called you to be can easily b/co a reality.
