Intro.: When it is time to get the store ready for Christmas, we begin by cleaning it up.
1. Then we move on and beginning to put new merchandise
on the shelves.
2. “New” is nothing new for us a believers.
- We have experienced a new birth (I Pet 1:3)
- In Christ, we are a new creation (II Cor 5:17)
- We are responsible for a new covenant (II Cor
3:6)
- We have a renewed mind (Eph 4:23)
- We look forward to a new heaven and a new earth
(II Pet 3:13)
- And we will sing a new song (Rev 5:9)
3. Let me read one such passage as a reminder of what
God is doing in us.
Read: II Corinthians 5:16-21
Pray
Trans: What is there that makes us “new” in Christ?
During the next few minutes I want to look at to wonderful decisions that we can make that allow us to be new. Oh, we will still have the same old body, we will still have the same illnesses. But these two decisions will allow God to remake us for the inside. Our hearts, minds, and souls will never, can never be the same once we make these two decisions.
I. Filling of the Holy Spirit
1. I could have entitled this point, “Who’s in
control?”
2. Read Galatians 5:
3. When we gave our lives to Jesus some amazing
things happened.”
a. We became a member of a new family – the
family of God.
b. Our sins were forgiven
c. We become a different person.
d. The Holy Spirit comes to live in us
4. But then comes the great conflict that most
Christians experience in their lives – I want
something or I want to do something, but I am
not sure that God wants the same thing.
5. The Christian life is a wonderful thing –
because ultimately, God has given us the freedom
to make choices – even if it something he would
not want.
6. And that becomes a slippery slope.
(Ill.) For a number of years, I traveled to Dayton, OH,
for a continuing education experience for my
Computer Science job at the college. One summer we
were walking over to Arby’s for lunch – we had
walked out the back door of the classroom building,
across the parking lot. We came to a grassy incline
that stood in the most direct path to Arby’s. As
others went down that little hill, I saw that it
would be safe – or so I thought. I started down the
slope but then my right foot started to slip. I
tried to recover with my left foot, but then it
slipped too. You can perhaps picture it, Pastor
Johnson, down on his hind end.
7. Just as my left foot followed my right foot, so
do our lives tend to follow one decision after
another.
8. I put this chair here in the center of our
platform. Imagine, if you will, that it is a
throne. Not just any throne, but the thrown of
your life.
9. Now, as a believer, you have a choice. Who is
going to sit on this throne. Christ is here, he
is present. You know Him as your savior. But
here is your choice, who will sit on this throne
in your life?
10. Who will be in control of your life. Will you
insist on controlling your own life – or will
you let God take control.
(Ill.) As Methodist, we talk about Christian
Perfection. The Baptist prefer Paul’s term, “being
filled with the Spirit.” It really does not matter
what you call it, but what is important is that we
allow Jesus to have control of our lives.
II. Receiving Jesus Christ
1. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is only part
of the puzzle. It is not the start.
2. The Christian life, for most of us starts long
before this. It may have been during our early
years when our parents drug us to church – even
when we did not want to go. It may have been
while our parents watched a Billy Graham crusade
on TV – or you have been privileged to attend
one yourself. Or maybe it began as you stumbled
across a Christian radio or TV program.
3. Now I mentioned those things because I can
remember each of those being a significant part
of my life before I gave my heart to Jesus. All
of those things were important milestones in my
coming to faith, but none of them made me a
Christian.
4. I only became a believer the day I decided to
follow Jesus. Going to church, reading the right
books, knowing the right people, doing the right
things, never made me a Christian. None of these
things got me into heaven. I only became a
Christian when I was able confess my sin to God
and acknowledged my faith in the Son He sent to
die for my sin.
(Ill.) Rosemaria Von Trapp, one of the famous “Sound of
Music” children, has this to say about her famous
parents, Baron Georg and Maria Von Trapp, who fled
Nazi-occupied Austria instead of cooperating with the
Nazis: Only yesterday I talked to high school
students—sophomores—who were doing research papers on
the Holocaust of Hitler in Germany. They wanted me to
talk about the Nazis. I told them that Hitler gave us
a symbol of a cross with hooks on it. But our
Christian faith gives us a symbol of a cross that
brings freedom and resurrection. The world, you know,
offers us a glossy cross with hooks in it. My father
and mother had to make a choice. They chose the cross
of Christ. (1)
5. It is not new – Billy Graham offers the
opportunity to follow Jesus every time he
preaches. Today, I want to offer it to you.
Conclusion: I don’t know where you are today.
1. If you have never made a decision to follow
Jesus, today is a good day to do just that.
Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be. (2)
2. On the other hand, if you are at a place that you
know you belong to Jesus; but life seems out of
whack, maybe it is time to see who is in control.
Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have sinned against You by directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. (3)
Pray
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(1) Morgan, R. J. (2000). Personal interview, September 1994. Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (175). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
(2) Bright, B. (1994). Have you heard of the four spiritual laws? (10). Orlando, FL: NewLife Publications.
(3) Bright, B. (2001). Have you made the wonderful discovery of the spirit-filled life? (12). Orlando, FL: NewLife Publications.
