When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions
John 17:17 / Romans 6
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ReadInstructions.html
Ravi Zacharias recalled: [in “Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows”.]
"I was ministering in Vietnam in 1971, and one of my interpreters was Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. He had worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help both to them and to missionaries such as myself. Hien and I traveled the length of the country and became very close friends before I returned home. We did not know if our paths would ever cross again. Seventeen years later, I received a telephone call. "Brother Ravi?" the man asked. Immediately I recognized Hien's voice, and he soon told me his story.
Shortly after Vietnam fell, Hien was imprisoned on accusations of helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him against democratic ideals and the Christian faith. "Maybe," he thought, "I have been lied to. Maybe God does not exist. Maybe the West has deceived me." So Hien determined that when he awakened the next day, he would not pray anymore or think of his faith.
The next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison latrines. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly grabbed it, washed it, and after his roommates had retired that night, he retrieved the paper and read the words, "Romans, Chapter 8." Trembling, he began to read, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him….for I am convinced that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Hien wept. He knew His Bible, and knew that there was not a more relevant passage for one on the verge of surrender. He cried out to God, asking forgiveness, for this was to have been the first day that he would not pray. Evidently God had other plans. What his tormentors were using for refuse—the Scriptures—could not be more treasured to Hien.
After finding the Scripture, Hien asked the commander if he could clean the latrines regularly, because he discovered that some official was using a Bible as toilet paper. Each day Hien picked up a portion of Scripture, cleaned it off, and added it to his collection of nightly reading.
The day came when, through an equally providential set of circumstances, Hien was released from prison. He promptly began to make plans to leave the country and to construct a boat for the escape of him and fifty-three others. All was going according to plan until days before their departure. Four Vietcong knocked on Hien's door and said they had heard of his escape. He denied it and they left. Hien felt relieved, but at the same time disappointed with himself. He made a promise to God—fervently hoping that God would not take him up on it—that if the Vietcong returned, he would tell them the truth. He was thoroughly shaken when only a few hours before they were to set sail, the four men returned. When questioned again, Hien confessed the truth. To Hien's astonishment, the men leaned forward and in hushed tones, asked if they could go with him!
In an utterly incredible escape plan, all fifty-eight of them found themselves on the high seas, suddenly engulfed by a violent storm. Hien cried out to God, "Did you bring us here to die?" He said to me, "Brother Ravi, if it were not for the sailing ability of those four Vietcong, we would not have made it." They arrived safely in Thailand, and years later Hien arrived on American soil where today he is a businessman.
Last time we looked at the world, and today, the Word, which keeps us from the world, and sanctifies us.
We need an appreciation for the Word.
How many have a Bible today? How many do you have at home? How many have it in a digital format?
Did you know that having your own entire copy of the Word of God is a relatively new thing in Christianity? For a great majority of Christian history only a select few had small portions of it. Even in days of Renaissance and advancement churches had one Bible, and it was chained to the pulpit so no one could steal it!
With the advent of the printing press [Gutenberg, Johann, not Steve] it became more common for common folk to be able to gain their own copy. That's good, right? But something else happened that's not so good, which is us today taking it for granted.
We need a daily relationship with God, correct? Shouldn't that include a daily time in His Word? [v. 17]
Use the daily Bible reading plan on our website, or get a 1 Year Bible, and read it through this year! When all else fails, read the instructions!
ill.--driving / building a swingset
[now go to Romans 6]
vv. 1-2 True salvation results in a changed life.
ill.--when the prodigal son went home to his father he left the hogpen!
Matthew 1:21
...thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
He saves us FROM our sins...not IN our sins.
I am concerned, with good reason, about the faith of anyone if there is no evidence of change in their life! Of course, changing doesn't save you, but being saved will change you! What God justifies He always sanctifies. We're not talking about perfection, but progress. Not being sinless, but sinning less and less.
If nothing happened AFTER you claim you were saved, then nothing happened WHEN you claim you were saved.
A change in your life is not the root of your salvation, but it certainly is the fruit of your salvation!
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
God begins as an interior decorator, and then shows His skill with the exterior! God never abandons a building project!
Many church goers have overdosed on Christian liberty. "I'm saved and secure, therefore it does not matter how I live, how I look, where I go."
Yes, God looks on the heart, but man looks on the outside, and we need to let our light shine. It DOES matter!
There are 3 key words in Rom. 6: Know, Reckon, and Yield
Know=There is something I must understand.
vv. 3, 6, 9, 16 - first words!
I'm thankful that sanctification is not based on what I do but what I know!
Do you want to live for Jesus? Do you struggle with some sins? Here's some things you need to know to make the difference:
Know that you are dead to sin.
v. 2 Does that mean my old nature is now dead? No.
Baptism is the illustration. It's not teaching we are saved by being baptized. It is reminding us that by baptism we were identified with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection.
vv. 3-5 Before salvation we were identified with Adam. After salvation we are identified with Christ! When He died, we died, when He resurrected, we were too...to walk in newness of new life, born again!
Because of this truth we have a totally new relationship to sin.
v. 4a When Christ was buried, our sins were buried [the old man/nature]
When I baptize someone I explain that it illustrates these things:
• The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
• Their salvation experience of dying to sin and being born again into a new life to live for Jesus!
Continuing v. 4 and into v. 5, it is about the resurrection. Jesus was laid in that tomb and the Roman empire guarded it, but on the third day He arose, conquering death, and I am identified with that, with a brand new life!
I am not a reformed sinner, but a transformed sinner!
I don't have a cleaned up version of the old me, but a brand new me! And so we are to walk in newness of life.
vv. 6-8 We were there with Him in those hours on the cross. Our sins were laid upon Him, and we were in His heart.
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
v. 6 "that the body of sin might be destroyed" = rendered powerless. The old nature is still there, but its domination over you and reign over you has ended. It doesn't mean you won't sin, just that you don't HAVE to.
The lost person HAS to sin. They are a slave to sin...a puppet on a string. They are still the old man...your old man has been crucified with Christ and you have a power source to plug into if you will!
ill.--imagine yourself a prisoner of war, being marched thru the jungle with a gun at your back. Your enemy trips and falls on his face, his gun at your feet. You pick it up and point it at him. My oh my how the tables have turned.
Before you came to Christ sin had the power and we were the prisoner. Now we have the power and sin is the prisoner.
For the truly saved, slavery to sin should no longer exist! You've got to know that to be sanctified.
v. 7 Jesus will save His people FROM their sin.
vv. 9-10 Sin has no dominion over Christ - we are in Christ - so it has no dominion over us!
The devil has some of you hoodwinked into thinking you cannot get victory over some certain sin.
ill.--imagine 2 fields with a road in-between. Both fields need to be worked and cultivated. One belongs to Satan and the other to God. Before you got saved you were working in the devil's field...and had no choice about it, you were his slave. But when you turned to Christ by faith and got saved, God rescued you over to His field, and there you plow...but as you do, Satan is across the way in his field trying to lure you back over with him. You don't go back over because you have to, but often, because you want to.
ill.--Elephant chained to tiny stake and doesn't pull it out...because as a baby they drove a much bigger stake into the ground and he couldn't get away, and eventually gave up trying.
God has broken your chains, but the devil wants you to believe you can't escape.
John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
When all else fails, read the instructions! Get into the Word, and the truth sets you free!
Know!
Tonight: Reckon and Yield.
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pt. 2
I'm amazed by flowers...because I don't know how something so clean and so beautiful can come out of dirt.
That's God's goal for us as believers, that others would see our lives and wonder how something clean and desirous could be raised up out of this dust ball of curses and sin.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
God can make beautiful things out of dirt. We were once stained with the dirt and filth of sin, and it was dragging us to hell. But we turned to Christ by faith and were cleansed by His blood. It starts as an inside job, justification, and then it works its way out by the ongoing process of sanctification.
ill.--flipping houses can be profitable. You buy a heap of junk and then fix it up. The purchase happens on one specific day with a signature on a line, but over time you work on it and it comes forth a vessel for the finer.
Ye are bought with a price [justification] ... now glorify God with your body and your spirit [sanctification]
Our passage has 3 key words to understand: Know, Reckon, Yield.
Know=There is something I must understand.
Reckon=There is something I must underscore.
Yield=There is something I must undertake.
vv. 1-10 last time we covered the word Know. We must know that we are dead to sin. We are identified with Christ and we need to notify our spirit that we are now plugged into a new power source that will give us victory if we want it. If we don't enjoy a life of victory it is not God's fault but ours.
We are more than conquerors thru Him that loved us. We can do all things thru Christ who strengthens us.
ill.--in John 11 Jesus raised Lazarus after 4 days of death. Then He said, loose him and let him go. He was bound in the old graveclothes. In chapter 12 we see Lazarus eating and fellowshipping with Jesus. Too many Christians are still bound up somewhere in-between chapters 11 and 12. They have been justified, saved and raised to walk in newness of life, but they are still bound by the old graveclothes of the past life. Get out of the graveclothes and put on the graceclothes and walk in the new life you have been given!
ill.--decapitated chicken runs around. Is it dead or alive? It is dead, but it just doesn't know it yet!
Know - there is something I must understand.
Reckon - there is something I must underscore.
v. 11 Assuming I really have been granted victory, how can I apply that in shoe leather, in every day life? Get a hold of this word, reckon. Not the southern meaning, but the Biblical meaning.
Reckon =to impute, to put to one's account, to chalk it up. It is an accounting term.
Romans 4:3
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
'Counted' is the same word as Reckon. Abraham believed and God put righteousness into his account. To reckon is to 'take it to the bank.' Deposit this truth in your account. It is not enough to just understand it, you must underscore it. Make it stand out, write it on the bottom line in bold print. Move it from your head to your heart!
ill.--imagine you owe a thousand dollars to different people around town, 50 here, 100 there, and your account is sitting on zero. Imagine somebody who loves you comes along and deposits $1,000 into your account. Question: is just knowing the money is in your account enough? No, it does you no good until you start writing checks on it.
To reckon is to bank on it! So, knowing we can and should leave the life of sin is not enough. It is when we reckon that we actually turn and walk away...we take action!
It's not based on how we feel. You may not feel saved or sanctified. You may not feel like you've been crucified with Christ and have His power within you. But when you reckon it to be true you just act on it.
ill.--you have an important morning meeting at work at 8 AM, and your job depends on you being there. Your alarm goes off at 6:30 and you can't believe it is that time already, you feel like you just dozed off. It feels like 3 AM! What do you do? Do you say, since it feels like 3 I'm gonna roll back over or do you just get up like you are supposed to do? I reckon you ought to get up regardless of how you feel, because of what you know in both your head and your heart. You know the clock is right whether you feel like it or not, and you can take it to the bank that if you don't you won't have anything to take to the bank!
Know - there is something I must understand.
Reckon - there is something I must underscore.
Yield - there is something I must undertake.
vv. 12-13 This passage goes on to mention the word 'yield' 5 times.
First Paul tells us how to yield, and then why we should yield.
How to yield...
To present. To place yourself at the disposal of another.
When you yield at an intersection you are saying to another - you first!
v. 13 - 'members' means parts of your body.
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
The eye is the most complex creation of God in our bodies. It goes way beyond HD technology. It is one of our members. It is an instrument - of either good or evil. We can use it for God's glory or for the muck of fleshly desires.
Our ears can be instruments for good or evil. It is a gate thru which we pass information to our brains. So be careful little ears what you hear. You know what you get when you play country music backward? Your wife back, your dog back, your truck back!
Our hands can grasp things, but what will be use them to pick up?
We must have a daily yielding, a daily presentation, an offering of our bodies to God. Every day we yield to many other things, we might as well add God to the top of the list.
What if we yielded our tongues to the Lord, for His use, to share the gospel and encourage one another, rather than for gossip, complaining, cursing, and lies.
Why should we yield? ...
1. God's favor.
vv. 14-15 After He died for us, it is the least we can do to live for Him!
2. God's freedom.
vv. 16-20 Master/Servant. Whatever you yield to becomes your master. Be a slave of sin or serve God, Who gives freedom! The taskmaster of sin is cruel.
ill.--the prodigal wanted freedom from his father, but wound up in much deeper servitude to awful things.
We are fools for Christ's sake. Whose fool are you?
v. 19 If only we served Jesus with the same enthusiasm as we once served the world.
ill.--strong willed child can be turned and use that strong will for the Lord and be head strong for Jesus! If we can channel them in the right direction they can become rebellious toward the devil as they once were toward you!
3. God's fruit.
v. 21-23 When you serve a master you receive wages. Satan is a master and the wages of sin is death. God is a master and the wages of holiness are joy, peace, and good fruit!
John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
When all else fails, read the instructions! Get into the Word, and the truth sets you free!
Know! Reckon! Yield!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ReadInstructions.html
