WE MUST OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MAN
AIM: To give the congregation courage to speak the word of God Boldly
OPEN:
1) Good Morning
2) Finally here
3) Excited about the possibilities
4) I have enjoyed our visits
5) Look forward to next week
6) Moved In, Just about unpacked.
7) Share my vision
VISION STATEMENT:
My goal as a servant of God is to better His Kingdom by encouraging His Saints to remain steadfast to His hope, and to help lost Souls to find true joy and identity in the only place it can be found.
OUTLINE:
1) The Amazing Jesus
2) The Judging World
3) The Need for Boldness
1. THE AMAZING JESUS
a) Today I want to talk about the need for us to be Bold with the message of Christ
b) Unfortunately we often forget who He is and what Jesus as done for us.
c) That is why I feel that it is absolutely imperative that we know the Amazing Jesus.
SCRIPTURES:
a) All through the book of John we can read about Who Jesus said that He was.
b) John 6:48 & 51
“ I am the Bread of Life…”
“ I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven.
John 8:12
“ I am the Light of the World”
John 10:7 & 11
“I am the door of the sheep”
“ I am the good shepherd”
John 11:25
“I am the resurrection and the life”
John 14:6
“I am the way, and the truth and the life”
John 15:1
“I am the true Vine”
c) These are all statements Jesus has made about himself.
d) knew who he was at age twelve when he was found in His “father’s house”.
e) Performed many, many miracles
f) Healed the sick, raised the dead.
g) was the greatest teacher ever to walk the face of the earth.
h) Called the prince of peace, The lion of Judah, the King of Kings.
I) known as the creator and sustainer of life.
j) Was with God in the beginning, His word created the world.
k) Victor over all temptation
l) Given all authority over all heaven and earth.
m) provider of peace
giver of grace
King of all Kingdoms
master of man kind
deliverer of the dead
advocate of the anointed
mediator for the masses
purifier of the putrid
servant of the saved
foundation for the fallen
Shepherd of His sheep
Doctor for the Diseased.
Died for all the dead
buried for the bereaved
and Risen for the Redeemed
n) He is everything that could ever be important to anyone for all times.
o) In him we find purpose and hope and identity. There is no other place in which we can find the true love of God but in Christ Jesus.
p) No one can deny the existence of God, nor can they deny the existence of Jesus. (CASE FOR CHRIST)
q) All who say that Jesus isn’t Lord, will soon learn that Jesus Is Lord
EXAMPLE:
EVERY KNEE WILL BOW
EVERY TONGUE CONFESS
THAT JESUS IS LORD…
So we can either Bow now or Bow Later. Either way we are going to bow.
APPLICATION:
Jesus is the King of all, He is over all, and through all, and in all. He is the Amazing Jesus. We are here today because we believe that. But how much does this fact affect us???
Let’s look at some men in the Bible who were affected so profoundly by Him that they were willing to stand against Judgment because of it.
2. THE JUDGEMENT OF THE WORLD
a) It’s unfortunate, but Jesus gets buried by the pressures of the world.
b) As amazing as He is, it seems as though it takes very little to distract us from Him.
c) The world stands in judgment against the message of Christ.
d) Immorality engulfs us and stands against all that we hold dear in Christ.
e) Tolerance of that immorality is demanded, intolerance will not be tolerated.
f) If we hold to the Amazing Christ, we will definitely be intolerant of immorality. And therefore rejected by the world.
SCRIPTURES:
a) In Acts 3 we find The apostle Peter’s second sermon.
b) It is preceded by a miraculous sign.
c) Peter and John walk into the temple, and on the way through the gate they see a crippled man, lame from birth.
“Silver and Gold, I do not possess, but what I do have I give to you...in the name of Jesus Christ Stand up and walk. Immediately the man’s feet and legs were filled with strength. He jumped up” and followed Peter and John into the temple praising God.
d) as a crowd gathers Peter seizes the opportunity and preaches to the crowd.
e) The Chief priest’s hear what’s going on and try to put a stop to it. But because it was the end of the day they just threw them in jail.
f) They didn’t want to hear the message of Christ…
EXAMPLE: This is much like the world today. We have a huge, massive movement of homosexuality in this world. And the message that they are trying to project is that we need to just simply tolerate it. That if we disapprove of this immorality we are in the wrong. That we cannot judge them for their actions. In fact, I believe there will be a time when I won’t be allowed to stand up here and say that these things are wrong. The world doesn’t want to hear the message of Christ, instead they want to hear what will tickle their ears. They want there to be no set truth or standard. That what may be wrong for someone may be right for someone else. And we are not allowed to make that judgment. But let’s cut to the chase, Jesus tells us to flee from immorality. And we need to flee from it. Whether it is homosexuality, or adultery, or fornication….whatever it is we need to flee from it. And I’m sorry to say, the world will despise us for it.
APPLICATION:
Peter and John weren’t combating immorality, they were up against the Jewish ruling counsel. But the intention was the same. They wanted the message of Christ to shut up. The world desires the same thing. Jesus still stands in judgment of the world. His message is scorned, his people are mocked and rejected just as he was. All this effort to try to shut up the truth. But we cannot let that happen. If we believe in the Amazing Jesus Christ, then we cannot stop the message from coming out.
3. THE NEED FOR BOLDNESS
a) Peter and John, in our text, have this second opportunity to address the Jews.
b) While they were on trial before the same people that sentenced Jesus to death, the spoke with complete boldness and courage. The kind we need to speak with today.
SCRIPTURES:
a) Acts 4:1-22 even in the midst of the council they spoke with great boldness. They didn’t pull any punches. They told them the truth, and the council hadn’t a leg to stand on. These men were not guilty, but more to be praised.
b) Peter and John were ordinary people just like you and me, but they had an extraordinary message.
c) It wasn’t that they healed a cripple in the name of Jesus, it was that it is That in the name of Jesus there is salvation. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is the power of God for salvation.
d) The Sanhedrin asks them to stop teaching this message. To stop saying that Jesus is Lord, that he is the salvation.
e) But They reply…”JUDGE FOR YOURSELF WHETHER IT IS RIGHT IN GOD’S SIGHT TO OBEY YOU RATHER THAN GOD. FOR WE CANNOT STOP SPEAKING ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD”
f) They had a message that they couldn’t keep inside. They new the amazing Jesus Christ. They witnessed His Death, Burial and Resurrection. They lived with Him and knew him well. The saw the miracles, they heard the truth. They knew the Lord.
g) We have this same thing today. We are witnesses of Jesus Christ.
in….
- fellowship with His children
- the creation all around us
- in the strength of his message
2000 years old.
- in those saved by his un-match able grace.
EXAMPLE: of which I am the worst.
I stand before you today as a testimony to the Grace of Jesus Christ. I am a living breathing dead person. For several years I didn’t know God, I had no relationship with Him. I was lost in all kinds of immorality. I was into drugs and drinking. I was covered in the stains of sin, but I stand before you today proclaiming that I cannot stop speaking about what I have seen and heard. Jesus’ Grace was sufficient for me, and I am clean because of that grace.
h) In fact, this room is full of eyewitnesses to the Saving Power of Christ.
Some who were spiritually crippled are now walking.
APPLICATION:
Just like Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, we stand before the judgment of the world. It is telling us to Shut-up the Gospel message. To not speak it to the world, but we cannot do that. If we truly know Jesus, if we have heard his word and seen the miracle of his saving grace in our lives, then nothing can shut us up. Nothing can silence the truth. NOTHING.
CONCLUSION:
we have an amazing Jesus...one who reaches to all of us. One whose grace is sufficient. And though we stand in judgment of the world we must stand in boldness with the message of Christ. Fearless. Strong, Bold.
