Sermon Title: LOVE or OBLIGATION
Scripture Text: Hebrews 10:11-14; 15-18
Hebrews 10:11-14 NLT
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Hebrews 10:15-18 NLT
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
The Word of God
For the People of God
Thanks be to God
Today I want to concentrate on Verses 15-18 of out text.
Is being a Christian LOVE or OBLIGATION?
Obligations makes me cringe just hearing the word. I am obligated to turn assignments in on time, keep my promises, get up and go to work or school, do my job, go to dinner with someone or group I don’t like, family traditions or even watch a movie I don’t like to keep someone else happy, on and on we can go.
And to be honest, sometimes it can be like a Christian feels like just something else I am obligated to do. Read my Bible, help others, give my money, work on a project I don’t want involved in, etc.
When it is an obligation, we have two choices: We can either get overwhelmed and not do it and feel guilty. Or we can do it but get burnt out.
Should love, love of God, just be called an obligation?
-Is setting up in the hospital for 3 days with someone we love an obligation or love?
-Is being hurt badly by someone you love very much and doing nothing about it an obligation or love?
-Is serving in one of Gods earthly church ministry’s an obligation or love?
What about you or me? What do you have going on in your life? Are there things you feel obligated to do or do you do them out of love? Do the laws of Christianity overwhelm you and make you want to give up? Do you feel guilty for not meeting with a person who needs to talk, or what about not giving your money to God for his work here on earth?
Listen, God does not want or need our handouts. He is not going to strike you down for not reading your Bible or not giving to the poor. He wants us to do things because we love him not because of obligation to Him. When we are filled with that kind of love that is written in our hearts and on our minds love should overflow from us.
ILLUSTRATION:
What about when you are holding your baby in the quite of a wonderful day. That wonderful feeling of this baby makes you heart explode with love. Tears of joy comes to your eyes. We thank God for this joy He has given us.
Then on a restful quite night maybe we hours in the morning this precious baby starts to cry and cry and cry. You make funny faces, you walk the floor. You rub their gums with this special treatment. After what seems all night and you are exhausted to the bone you look up toward heaven and pray out loud from your soul: Please God let this baby shut up and sleep - I cant take it any longer!
But you do. You keep walking and talking and hugging and praying. Is this LOVE or OBLIGATION?
Since the law is not literally written in anyone’s heart or on their mind, the Scripture references a deeper figurative metaphorical meaning that is to be understood.
This is so very important to understand: Our human conscience isn’t the Holy Spirit talking to us.
-Our conscience can learn things and make our thoughts and emotions tell us things that are wrong according to God. The family we grew up in, the community we live, and even the Church we attend can sway our human Conscience.
-The Holy Spirits direction is always from God. Always tells us the truth. The Holy Spirit doesn’t tell us something is right when its wrong by God’s love for us.
Although given a godly moral direction by love, a person can willfully ignore and sear the voice of the Holy Spirit in order to live wrongly according to God and even live guilt free.
1 Timothy 4:2 NLT
2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead
1 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
When a person is of God and does something wrong, the Holy Spirit is grieved within that person (Ephesians 4:30). People who have seared their consciences, and do wrong things, have closed the door to the Holy Spirit and can’t hear Him anymore.
The Holy Spirit will never contradict what the proper interpretation of Holy Wit says; never.
Many Christian theologians have explained that the law being put on our minds and written in our hearts is related to the earthly conscience, this isn’t so. Christians follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and if you have to bounce it off the proper interpretation of the Holy Bible it’s OK. God gave us Scripture to help us.
*We are not under the law but under the leading of God through the Holy Spirit. The writing in our hearts and on our mines. The Holy Spirit will guide us to truth when we read and study the Scriptures learning the proper way to understand His words.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
--The representation of the law has now been put on our minds and in our hearts, because Jesus obeyed the law, showing us the way to do it, and because Jesus suffered and died for us on Golgotha He fulfilled the Law. What was once the law to be obeyed through obedience alone, has become the example to be followed by following our Lord and Master Jesus the Christ on this earthly journey.
A lot of theologians tells us that this writing in our hearts and on our minds starts in at least 3 places.
Here is the beginning:
-Jesus started writing in our hearts and on our minds when he was born of a young virgin into a world that wanted to kill his physical body.
-It continued when he walked on this earth suffering and humiliated by many.
-On that Old Rugged Cross Jesus gave all of himself because of Love.
-He raised from the dead because of Love from the Holy Spirit.
-He sets at the right hand of God the Father in heaven explaining to God the Father, that has never felt sin, what it’s like for us down here on this decaying earth of sin.
This writing of God in our hearts and on our mines continues today if we listen close.
I once had a job and the sign behind me said:
This Job is not what I do, This job is who I am.
Can we say:
Being a Christian is not what I do, Being a Christian is who I am.
