1st John 1:5-10
¡§Live what you Claim¡¨
¡§The world changes when Christians live what they claim.¡¨
FCC ¡V Piggott
5.18.03
Intro: (Start With Blank)
It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong; Not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians.
I have a question for you ¡V are you being real? Is the person you appear to be this morning the same person you were last night? I am not suggesting that you put on some happy face and make everything appear to be wonderful when it¡¦s not. I am simply asking a very hard question ¡V are you being real.
There is a Christian CD the title of the CD is ¡§Myself When I am real¡¨ ¡V
Sometimes not being real can get us into trouble. Sometimes it¡¦s more of a headache than anything. I didn¡¦t appreciate my mom¡¦s cooking till I went to college. In fact I would recommend that if you have problems getting your children to eat what you fix send them to college for a week or a month. Suddenly the meatloaf you make isn¡¦t so bad.
My mom ¡V for some reason thought that I liked cocoanut cream pie. She had it in her mind that I liked that specific kind of pie. I can¡¦t stand cocoanut. The cream part was always really good if you could get past the cocoanut. Sometimes it¡¦s easier just to tell the truth ¡V EVERY SINGLE time I went home, or we¡¦d visit her on the weekend. Possibly just at random she¡¦d show up with this fresh cocoanut cream pie. I should have just told her the truth. I wonder how many apple pies she would have made. She would have done the same thing only it would have been a treat. The neighbors loved her, and we did too.
Discussion:
God had a need to show us something. God had a need to show us himself. He sent Jesus to come and give us an example on how to live. He built up for himself disciples and apostles gifted in different directions, gifted in different areas to show us about the church. It is one thing for me to ask the question of you ¡V are you being real ¡V it¡¦s completely another to ask the question of myself. It¡¦s one thing to tell you to get involved in the church, the youth, VBS, Camp if I am not active in those things as well.
Jesus giving us the perfect example came to earth as a man to live and eat and breath and have all the physical limitations of any human being so that we could know God cares for us and about us. He didn¡¦t have to but he did anyway. Our heavenly father loves and cares for us.
God sent his one and only son as a man, not for show, not for judgment, not for anything else but to change us. God¡¦s one desire is that we change, not to become something we aren¡¦t but to become everything he wants us to be. (Advance)
The world changes when Christians live what they claim. (Advance)
Turn with me to 1st John 1:5-10 (read)
Our scripture this morning hopefully will give us some insight on being real. It is my prayer this morning that you will leave here more real with God. I pray that impacts your desire to do things for him, and for his people. (Advance)
The first step this morning to living what you claim is to walk.
I. Walk (5-8)
A. Not physical as much as it is spiritual
1. Are you telling the world that you believe something and doing something just the opposite?
2. Are you trying to grow in your relationship with Christ?
a) This isn¡¦t trying to be seen in the right place at the right time
b) This isn¡¦t trying to avoid the wrong places
c) This isn¡¦t hide the beer the preacher is here
3. Is your walk with Christ dependent on other Christians?
a) In some ways that¡¦s a good thing
(1) Need for fellowship
(2) Need for encouragement
(a) ¡§Young adult¡¨ class ¡V excellent example ¡V not really a complaining session but just a time of encouragement for people who are in the same position you are in. (Advance)
b) Your walk with Christ is personal
(1) It shouldn¡¦t be something you do just for show
(2) It¡¦s a communion between you and Jesus.
(3) You are responsible for yourself ¡V
(a) You are also responsible for your bother and sister in Christ.
Remember the story of Cain and Abel? The two sons of Adam and Eve. They offered sacrifices to God ¡V one was accepted, one was not. Cain, the older brother was mad at the younger brother because Cain¡¦s sacrifice to God wasn¡¦t accepted. (Advance)
Genesis 4:8-9 -- Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let’s go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don’t know," he replied. "Am I my brother’s keeper?" (Advance)
(b) Are we responsible for our brother¡¦s and sisters in Christ ¡V YES!
(i) We should act like we are responsible
(ii) We should encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ (Advance)
Romans 15:5 -- May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
(a) Saying good things
(b) Giving them a word of appreciation (Advance)
B. When you make the claim that you do walk with him
1. You Have fellowship with God.
2. You walk in the absence of darkness ¡V you have light in your life
Speaking to the Disciples Jesus said this: (Advance)
Matthew 5:13-16 -- "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Advance)
a) Our obligation ¡V Paul calls it a reasonable act of worship is to let our light shine. ¡V Paul is speaking of a living sacrifice but everything is the same ¡V Jesus wants your total complete devotion to him.
3. If you claim to have fellowship with Jesus and yet you have fellowship with darkness ¡V John says that we lie and do not live by the truth. (Advance)
You can¡¦t sugar coat this! Either you are completely devoted to Jesus or you aren¡¦t. Yes, you will fail, yes, you will make the wrong choices ¡V it¡¦s what you do after those wrong choices are made that will put you in the light or in darkness. (Advance)
4. If we walk in the light ¡V as Jesus as in the light
a) If we seek first his kingdom
b) If we believe in the one God has Sent
c) If we love Jesus with all our hearts our soul and our strength
d) If we follow because we know the source of living water
(1) The result is Fellowship with one another. (Advance)
We didn¡¦t raise corn in western Okla. We raised wheat. Here lately as we go to Poplar Bluff, or Kennett and even Paragould, I have noticed something about the corn fields. The stronger looking corn isn¡¦t on the edges. The weak corn, the small corn is on the edges at the end of the aisle. Think of the church as a huge cornfield, If you have fellowship with other Christians, if you claim Jesus as Lord and are devoted to the things Christians are devoted to ¡V you aren¡¦t the corn at the end of the row. (Advance)
(2) The result is the blood of Christ purifying us from all sin.
(a) The work of the blood of Jesus is to purify
(i) Usually blood would stain
(a) The Bible says that the only thing that stains us is our sin.
(ii) This blood purifies ¡V if accepted.
(iii) Have you accepted his sacrifice for your sins? (Advance)
Hebrews 9:11-14 -- When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Advance)
(b) His blood purifies us „³ should motivate us
(i) Not so we can sit back and relax
(ii) Not so we can think of ourselves with a boastful attitude
(iii) BUT ¡V to give us the power, the ability, the desire to help others come to know him personally.
The second step in living what we claim to walk is: (Advance)
II. Confess (9-10) (Advance)
A. Towards God
1. Very personal
There are many examples in the Bible of people who take a different road ¡V they run from their problems, they don¡¦t confess their sin. Mostly in the Old Testament there are people who try and hide their sin.
2. Very hard to do
a) It will cost you your pride
b) But God knows everything about you anyway ¡V
(1) He knows when you overcome and when you fail.
3. Falls under the heading of giving yourself completely to God
a) Not the most comfortable thing to do
b) Not the easiest thing to do
c) CHURCH! It¡¦s the best thing to do! (Advance)
B. Towards each other
1. Your relationships with each other¡V
a) Reflection of your relationship with God
b) Reflection of how you expect to be treated (Advance)
C. Allow God to be Faithful
1. Allow him to cleanse
2. Allow him to give you to the peace that only he can give
Sometimes I wonder how much healing we really need with each other. I am convinced that there is a lot of healing that has to take place ¡V between the church and the community but also the church and individuals. It¡¦s not in our failures that he makes us great ¡V it¡¦s in our ability to overcome through him. It¡¦s when we realize that we can only do this ¡V we can only be who he wants us to be through him. He alone gives us the power to do all that we can do for him. (Advance)
D. Don¡¦t make him out to be a liar
If you think about the cross of Christ ¡V what he did on the cross for each of us ¡V and then look at the sin we commit.
1. We admit our sin
2. We move forward
I believe this text this morning is to you as individual Christians and to you as the church, Fellowship together with one another ¡V and also fellowship with Christ.
So I ask you ¡V Are you real? Are you doing the things you claim? Are you seeking the things you know to be true? Do you offer one set of values to friends and family and have another set of values for yourself?
I am not talking about hypocrisy ¡V What is commonly thought as hypocrisy and what Jesus called hypocrisy is worlds apart. The hypocrisy that Jesus would have understood was more about missing the point ¡V not seeing the forest for the trees, not understanding the bigger picture. He would call ¡V staying home and playing in the sand box when you have a paid for trip to the south of France. Jesus called the teachers of the law hypocrites because they didn¡¦t see the bigger picture. They kept people from getting into the kingdom. He says in Matthew 23:27 -- "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.
What I am speaking about this morning is being real with yourself, being real with God, and being real with each other. You want to be in the light ¡V move towards Jesus. You want to get things right with God ¡V move towards Jesus. Take time this morning to move towards God. Take time this morning and allow the gospel message to change you. Don¡¦t just try and clean up the outside. Don¡¦t just straighten all the socks at the top of the draw ¡V God wants complete access. Come this morning if you want to live what you claim. Maybe you have been just playing church ¡V maybe you have been doing all the right things, and have been saying all the right things ¡V but have never dedicated yourself to Jesus ¡V he wants to make your actions worth something. Perhaps you want a place to worship, a place to call home come this morning as we stand and sing.
