Participants: Pr. C.A. Murray
Series Code: HHR
Program Code: HHR000005
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00:31 I welcome the sunrise as night turns to day,
00:38 should I try again, or turn and walk away? 00:45 The journey to this point seems so very hard 00:54 yet I'm standing praying right here in the yard. 01:00 The tears that I shed don't seem like it is worth it, 01:09 yet I know that you are on your way. 01:18 Lord lead me home, 01:24 there is no place to run and hide 01:27 you know what I keep inside 01:32 Lord lead me home, 01:39 I need to find a place to rest 01:43 where life in you is best, lead me home. 01:55 I know that I can trust You, You never let me down. 02:03 I know that I need You, You keep me off the ground. 02:09 Through disappointments You say it is okay. 02:18 My child I love you, there will be a brighter day. 02:24 So I made up my mind to keep on walking. 02:31 Yes dressing on the higher way. 02:41 Lord lead me home. 02:47 For there is no place to run and hide 02:51 You know what I keep inside. 02:56 Lord lead me home. 03:02 For I need to find a place to rest 03:06 where life in You is best. 03:10 Lead me home. 03:14 I'm going to trust You ever more each day. 03:22 Climbing higher as I pray. 03:32 Lord lead me home. 03:39 For there is no place to run and hide 03:42 You know what I keep inside. 03:47 So Lord lead me home 03:54 I need to find a place to rest 03:58 where life in you is best, lead me home. 04:06 I need to find a place to rest 04:09 where life in You is best, lead me home. 04:21 Lord, lead me home. 04:39 Amen and Amen! 04:41 Thank you Pastor John. 04:44 We have entitled our discussion for this night, 04:46 our message, Imperfectly Perfect. 04:50 We live in an imperfect world and yet we have been called to 04:54 perfection in Christ. 04:56 So we want to just discuss this night. 04:58 As we look at the subject, Imperfectly Perfect, 05:01 and coming on Friday evening, tomorrow night we take a break 05:08 to give you a chance to catch her breath and we're back 05:11 on Friday evening and as I recall the subject is Home Depot 05:18 Just A Hammer and A Nail. 05:21 Home Depot, Just A Hammer and A Nail. 05:27 You are looking at me as if to say what is he going to talk 05:30 about Friday evening? 05:32 Well, come back Friday evening and we will discover 05:34 what the Lord has to say in Home Depot, 05:37 Just A Hammer and Nail. 05:39 Shall we pray, Father God, again we call upon You and we thank 05:45 You dear Lord for Jesus, for what we have learned, and we 05:50 thank thee that through Your strength and power we can do all 05:54 things that pertain to salvation. 05:57 Teach us again this night, to be like Jesus and then enable us to 06:03 do that which we know to be right. 06:05 We thank you dear Father, in Jesus name, Amen! 06:09 I want to thank you, there has been a marked change in the 06:13 weather since my coming to Chicago whereas a few nights ago 06:18 we were all in short sleeves and fanning. 06:21 No one is fanning this night, and everyone is in 06:24 long sleeves and coats. 06:25 The weather has indeed changed for which I am thankful. 06:29 We have gotten a little break, it is a little cooler 06:34 and a little breezier and I am thankful that 06:36 you came out to be with us. 06:37 One of the things that occurs to me, that as we find 06:43 out new truth, I think you will agree with me, that 06:48 this thing we call Christianity is not a past time. 06:55 Christianity, Bible Christianity is invasive and pervasive, 07:02 it weaves itself into every aspect of our life. 07:06 You can't be a part-time Christian or a sometime 07:10 Christian, because Christ makes demands on our lives 07:15 that are radical. 07:16 He asks for a lot, but He also gives us lot. 07:22 Can you say Amen? 07:24 Even the casual Bible student will understand that 07:32 when you take on the name Christian, you are taking 07:37 on weighty responsibility. 07:40 It takes nerve to be a Christian. 07:44 It takes fortitude to be a Christian, 07:48 because Christians many times have to swim upstream against 07:54 the tide of popular culture. 07:57 So to be Christian means that you are going to have to rely on 08:02 Christ to do a superhuman worked through you. 08:06 Because Christianity weaves its way into every 08:08 aspect of our lives. 08:10 Even if you stop doing bad things, you don't get credit 08:17 because you have to do things through Jesus. 08:20 It is not just enough to stop doing a bad deed, 08:24 you have to replace bad things with good things, 08:27 and the power to do that comes from Jesus. 08:31 So let's launch out. 08:33 I am in the book of John, what book did I say? 08:35 John 3:7, let's set our foundation. 08:52 There are few texts in the Bible that are more important as 08:58 respect to the methodology of how to do salvation, 09:03 than this text and perhaps John 3:16. 09:06 Marvel not Christ said to Nicodemus that night. 09:11 You must be, not you should be, not it would be nice 09:17 if you were, not it's a great thing to be, but Christ told 09:22 Nicodemus during that night meeting, you must be born again, 09:28 of course that foundation under girds 09:31 this entire chapter. 09:33 The truth is that the first step to true Christianity 09:40 is conversion, what is that step? 09:42 Conversion, conversion is that which follows conviction. 09:47 I want you to stick with me here. 09:48 Conviction is the sense, the understanding that 09:54 something is wrong, what did I say? 09:57 It is the understanding that something is wrong 10:01 in your life. 10:02 You are walking along, you are living your life, 10:04 You are walking along and all of a sudden you come to the 10:07 realization something is wrong. 10:09 That is conviction and at that point, you stop. 10:12 Because you realize there is something wrong in going 10:15 in this direction. 10:16 You are convicted that this way is the wrong way. 10:21 So conviction stops you in your tracks. 10:24 You realize that Christ is going that way, 10:28 and you are going this way, and the longer you continue to go 10:31 this way the farther you are getting from who? 10:34 From Jesus, so conviction says something is wrong 10:39 with this path that I am on. 10:41 Now what are you going to do if you want 10:43 to follow Jesus? 10:45 Jesus is back there and I am going this way, 10:48 what do I have to do? 10:49 I have got to make a U-turn, Amen! 10:52 Yeah, I have to make a U-turn. 10:55 So I am going this way and I make a U-turn. 10:58 The moment that I make that U-turn, that U-turn, 11:02 ladies and gentlemen, is conversion. 11:03 Conversion is a U-turn, say it with me, conversion is a 11:09 U - turn, it is a change in your direction. 11:14 It doesn't mean you are perfect, doesn't mean you never have a 11:18 bad day, doesn't mean the devil leaves you alone, doesn't mean 11:23 your home and scot-free. 11:25 It simply means that you have changed your direction. 11:29 So when somebody says are you converted, if you have changed 11:34 your direction, you can say, Oh! yes I am! 11:37 Because I have changed the direction in which 11:39 my life is going. 11:41 Now we are in John 3:3 it says: 11:45 You cannot see the kingdom of God without that 11:49 new birth experience, without that conversion. 11:52 Over and over the Bible seems to indicate that 11:56 unless our lives, our hearts are converted, 11:58 unless we have made that U-turn in our lives, 12:01 we cannot see the kingdom of God. 12:05 1 Corinthians 1:23 says that, 12:08 to the Greek or to the Gentile if somebody does not 12:11 know the Lord, this thing that we call 12:13 Christianity is foolishness. 12:16 You know I was, years ago when I got audited by the IRS, 12:20 the fellow that was auditing my tax return asked 12:26 me if I was telling the truth about the figure that I put that 12:29 I gave to the Church each year? 12:30 He said to you really give that much money 12:32 to the church? 12:33 I said yeah, he said are you serious, I said yeah. 12:38 Why? That was his question, why? 12:42 Why would you give the church that much of your money? 12:45 I said because I believe in Jesus and I believe in fostering 12:49 His work, and he could not understand that. 12:51 So he made me prove that I gave that much money to the church, 12:56 and luckily I had a receipt from the church for all the 12:58 money that I had given to the Church. 13:00 He just couldn't understand why anybody would give that much 13:04 money to the church. 13:05 To him it was foolishness. 13:07 So you cannot see the kingdom of God. 13:11 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells me that spiritual things are 13:15 spiritually discerned, spiritually seen, so a lot 13:18 of the things that God's people do don't make sense 13:21 to people who don't believe in God. 13:23 Why would you get up and give one seventh of your time? 13:27 All day Saturday. 13:29 It's like the fellow I was telling you last night, 13:31 my friend that owns the dry cleaners, 13:32 it doesn't make sense to him. 13:34 You can make a lot of money on Saturday. 13:36 You are a church all day? 13:40 His church they go to church one hour and that 13:42 is it, they get the Lord one hour and then he's gone. 13:45 And you are going to give the Lord from sundown Friday to 13:49 sundown Saturday, all day? 13:52 Yeah, and I don't regret it, do you? 13:56 I love to do it, because I love to be with the One who has 14:01 given me life, and that is Jesus. 14:03 Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. 14:05 A lot of the things that we as Christians do don't 14:08 make sense to those who aren't in Christ Jesus. 14:11 So they cannot see it. 14:13 Verse 5 of the same chapter says, they cannot enter. 14:17 Not only do they not see it, they don't enter into it. 14:21 When we talk about the joys of serving the Lord, the blessings 14:24 of serving the Lord, there are people who 14:26 cannot enter into that. 14:27 Do you not know that when you give your life to Jesus your 14:32 life does actually get better here and now? 14:35 Can you say Amen? 14:37 You get the promise of eternity, but you also get, 14:40 as one Pastor said, you also get some goodies here and now. 14:43 Pastor John mentioned 9/11. 14:47 Let me tell you just one story, I like to 14:49 collect miracle stories. 14:50 Down through the years I've collected miracle stories and 14:52 one day if I ever get a chance I would like to put it, 14:54 put them all in a book. 14:56 But having been in New York during 9/11, I had worked 15:00 in the conference office during those fateful days, 15:02 I've got story upon story. 15:04 I will tell you about one story, a fellow by 15:06 the name of Alteno. 15:07 He actually worked at the World Trade Center building number 15:12 two, Seventh-day Adventist, went to church on 15:16 Saturday praise the Lord. 15:18 He also was a singer in the choir and a deacon in 15:21 the church, he was also a window washer at the 15:24 World Trade Center. 15:25 You talk about a dangerous occupation, washing Windows 110 15:29 stories in the sky. 15:30 They always make the window washers work in pairs because it 15:36 can be dangerous. 15:38 So he and his partner worked for twenty plus years on the 15:43 World Trade Center. 15:45 Every year brother Alteno, member of the Lynden church, in 15:50 fact Pastor Lomacang's wife family there in New York are 15:54 members of that same church. 15:55 They know this fellow. 15:56 Always took his vacation in August, every year because the 16:02 Sun is so hot in New York in August that the light shines 16:04 and the sun shines off those window panes and it 16:06 just bakes your skin. 16:08 So everybody likes to be off in August. 16:09 He always took his vacation in August, four weeks in August. 16:12 20 year habit, every year. 16:14 For some reason in 2001, brother Alteno decided, this year I 16:22 think I will take my vacation in September. 16:25 And what day in September? 16:30 I think I'll start my vacation on September 11. 16:33 So the first day of his vacation was September 11, 2001. 16:38 Twenty years August, for some reason when the sheet 16:44 came around in January of that year, he put down 16:46 September 11, 2001. 16:49 He broke a twenty year habit. 16:51 His partner took his vacation in August like usual. 16:57 So on the morning of September 11, 2001 his partner 17:01 was in the little cart outside of the World Trade Center 17:06 and he perished. 17:08 Brother Alteno was on his first day of vacation and 17:14 he is praising God today. 17:17 Now do you think that was a coincidence? 17:20 Just blind luck, that he chose September 11, after twenty 17:26 years of going on vacation in August that 17:28 he just happened to take that day. 17:30 Do you really think that was just a coincidence? 17:36 The Bible says that without the new birth experience 17:38 you cannot see the kingdom and you cannot enter into 17:42 the joys of the kingdom. 17:43 I am saying when you give your life to Jesus, 17:47 God gives you the promise of eternity, but He 17:50 gives you some blessings right here, right now! 17:53 So the Christians life is qualitatively better 17:58 than one who does not know the Lord. 18:00 I'm going through this by way of recapitulation because as I said 18:06 at the outset, coming to Jesus calls for radical changes 18:10 in our lives. 18:12 And I want you to know that with Jesus you can 18:15 indeed make those radical changes. 18:17 Without being born again you cannot have a new birth 18:20 experience, you cannot have continual consistent Christian 18:24 living, in fact it is impossible without 18:28 the new birth experience. 18:30 What you will have is what 2 Timothy 3: calls a form 18:35 of godliness, but you will not have the power. 18:39 You won't have the victorious living unless you 18:42 had Jesus within. 18:44 How do I know? 18:45 Romans 12:1, 2, what book did I say? 18:47 Are you with me in your word? 19:30 Paul is saying, I beg you, I ask you, I'm imploring 19:34 by the mercies of God, to look how good God is. 19:38 This is not an unreasonable request that you present your 19:41 bodies, give them over to God, because God can 19:46 do things with you, to you, for you, and through you 19:50 that will amaze you. 19:52 Don't be conformed to this world. 19:55 Don't be molded into the shape of this world, 19:57 but be transformed, have your mind renewed by the power 20:03 of the indwelling Jesus Christ. 20:05 The secret ladies and gentlemen is surrender. 20:07 The secret is surrender, not fighting your self, or fighting 20:13 against the world, but surrendering to Jesus Christ 20:16 and we will come back to that in just a little bit, 20:18 keep that in mind. 20:19 Let's go to Matthew 5:48, what book did I say? 20:37 Now, it almost appears as though that text is 20:41 simply saying you have to be perfect. 20:44 It is saying that, but it is saying something else. 20:48 So I want you to go back with me to Matthew 5 and back up to 20:52 verse 43, because there is a qualification to 20:55 that perfect that I want you to know about. 20:57 I'm in Matthew 5:43, look at this: 21:25 Piece of cake right! 21:27 You are going to persecute me and 21:32 I am going to love you. 21:33 You are going to steal from me and 21:36 I'm going to love you. 21:37 You are going to beat me up and 21:39 I'm going to love you. 21:40 A piece of cake! 21:42 I don't think so, even that little baby doesn't like that 21:46 idea, but God calls us to do that. 21:51 To do good to those who won't do good to us, 21:55 is that an easy thing to do? 21:57 No it is not! 22:01 Then comes verse 48: "therefore you shall be perfect. " 22:06 Now I want you to look at the context and look at what the 22:12 Lord is trying to do here. 22:13 Verse 48, let's go back there can you put it up for me? 22:17 Matthew 5:48, can you bring that back? 22:20 It says: 22:28 What is the first word in that text? 22:30 Therefore, therefore you shall be perfect. 22:36 Does the text say, be perfect? 22:40 Ah ha, no it does not, it says therefore, be perfect. 22:48 When ever you have a therefore, it presupposes that 22:54 you have a wherefore. 22:56 You have to remember that when looking at Bible text. 22:59 If you have a therefore it presupposes you have a 23:05 wherefore so than you can not translate therefore be 23:09 perfect the same as you would translate be perfect, 23:13 because the therefore frames the context. 23:17 I want you to stick with me. 23:18 Therefore frames the context for discussion. 23:23 When you see a therefore it means that everything on the 23:27 back side of therefore is based on everything on the 23:31 front side of the therefore which is the wherefore. 23:34 Some of you are scratching your head saying what 23:37 is he talking about? 23:39 Well it is like contract, the contract would say wherefore 23:43 this is true, and this is true, and this is true, therefore 23:50 this is true, do you follow me? 23:51 Guy meets a girl, falls in love and wants to form a contract, 23:56 we call it marriage. 23:57 Wherefore I love you, wherefore I care about you, wherefore 24:02 I want to spend my life with you, therefore, 24:04 I want to marry you. 24:06 Does it make sense? 24:07 So every time you have a therefore you always 24:11 have to have a wherefore. 24:13 If I just walked up and said, therefore I want to marry you, 24:17 therefore what? 24:20 You have to do the wherefore before you get to the therefore, 24:25 does that make sense? 24:26 Is it a little clearer? 24:27 Clear as mud, praise God! 24:30 So it doesn't mean simply be perfect, it means therefore be 24:37 perfect, because there is a wherefore. 24:40 The wherefore it is, verse 43, "you have heard that 24:43 said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, 24:47 but I say to you love your enemies, bless those who 24:51 curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray 24:56 for those who despitefully use you and persecute you. " 24:59 Now let's pick it up with verse 46: 25:23 So Christ is making a point here, He is not just 25:25 putting down tax collectors, Jesus loved everybody, 25:30 but of course as you well know the tax collectors were hated 25:33 by the Jewish community back in Christ time. 25:36 Tax collectors were Jews hired by the Romans to 25:39 take texts from their own people, so they were 25:42 hated because the Jews thought the tax collectors 25:44 were sellouts to the Romans. 25:46 The Romans would charge a certain amount of tax and 25:49 tell the Jewish tax collector, get us this money and 25:53 if you want to add any tax in addition to a you are going to 25:55 pay us you can raise it as high as you want. 25:58 So if the Roman tax was 5 dollars, the Jewish tax 26:01 collector would charge the people 10 dollars and give 5 26:05 to the Romans and keep 5 for themselves. 26:06 So the tax collectors were hated by the Jewish people, 26:11 but Christ loved everybody including tax collectors. 26:14 Can you say Amen? 26:16 Matthew was a tax collector and of course short 26:18 little Zacchaeus, who Jesus went to his house 26:20 was the chief of tax collectors. 26:22 So that let's me know that Christ loves even me. 26:25 Therefore you shall be perfect. 26:27 So the context of this perfection then is a loving 26:32 relationship with Jesus Christ. 26:34 That whole scenario, everything the Bible says about 26:38 perfection is in a context of a loving relationship 26:42 with Jesus Christ. 26:44 That reflects on how we love the Lord and also 26:49 how we treat others. 26:52 The context then is perfect relationship, 26:56 everything that has to do with the Lord has to do 26:59 with perfect relationships. 27:00 Let's go to the book of Matthew, what book did I say? 27:02 Matthew 22:36-39, the word of God says: 27:35 Powerful words, powerful words, now let me hasten to say, 27:40 these two commandments do not replace 27:43 the Ten Commandments. 27:46 I have heard some preachers say, all you have to 27:48 do is love and that replaces the Decalogue, 1-10 gone. 27:51 All you have to do is Matthew 22:36, love the Lord, 27:55 love your neighbor, but if you examine it closely 27:59 what you find is these two commandments are 28:02 the Ten Commandments. 28:05 They do not replace the ten, they are the ten, 28:08 in fact they tie a nice little bow around the ten. 28:11 They encapsulate the ten, if you love the Lord you 28:14 are not going to have any gods before you, 28:16 you're not going to worship graven images, 28:17 you're going to keep the Sabbath holy. 28:19 The first four are dealing with our love to God, 28:21 and the second six are dealing with our love to man. 28:24 We love the Lord supremely, and our neighbors as ourselves, 28:28 and that includes the neighbor who 28:30 doesn't talk to you. 28:32 That includes the neighbor who doesn't like you. 28:34 That includes the neighbor who does not treat you well. 28:37 Let me say this to you, no one was ever won to Jesus by 28:41 somebody that they did not like. 28:45 If they're going to love your Jesus, they have to love you and 28:48 we are called to let our light so shine before men that they 28:52 will see our good works and glorify our Father 28:55 which is in heaven. 28:56 So these two commandments encapsulate the 10 Commandments, 29:00 ladies and gentlemen that is perfect love. 29:04 Be Ye therefore perfect, perfect what, perfect love. 29:11 Our job, my job, your job is not to live sinless, 29:17 our job is to fall in love with Jesus Christ and allow 29:24 Christ to work out His sinless life in and through us. 29:28 It's not your job try to stop sinning, 29:31 it's your job to love Jesus, 29:34 and Jesus will stop sinning through you. 29:36 Can you say Amen? 29:38 Isaiah 64, what book did I say? 29:40 Isaiah 64:6; the Bible says, 29:58 Our best, our best efforts are insufficient to meet 30:06 the requirements of God. 30:07 All you can do is love Jesus with all your heart, 30:12 all your mind, and all your soul. 30:15 Our best efforts, in fact in Philippians 3: 5-9, 30:20 Paul gives his pedigree. 30:22 He talks about being a Pharisee, as touching the law 30:25 blameless, he said you want to talk about pedigrees, 30:27 if you want talk about how good a person can be, 30:29 look at my rap sheet, nobody does it like I did. 30:32 Yet I realized that I had to give all that self-righteousness 30:36 up for Jesus Christ. 30:38 Philippians 2:5, let's go to Philippians, 30:41 what book did I say? 30:42 In the book is Philippians chapter two. 30:52 Philippians is asking us to open up our minds to 30:56 the power of the indwelling of Jesus Christ. 30:58 Open up our hearts, open up our souls and let 31:02 Christ come within and fight the battle for you 31:05 and through you. 31:07 Let me give you an example. 31:09 Suppose a person has a desire for someone, a man for woman, 31:19 something that is unholy. 31:21 In his mind he's a Christian and he says to himself I know 31:26 this is not right, so I'm going to have to stop it. 31:29 I'm going to use my will to not think about her. 31:34 So every time he used his will to not think about her, 31:38 what is he doing? 31:39 He's thinking about her, he is thinking about not thinking 31:43 about her, so in thinking about not thinking about her he is 31:47 in effect thinking about her. 31:49 Amen, do you follow? 31:51 Okay I am not going to look at her, I am not going to think 31:54 about her, I'm not going to let her come through my mind and 31:57 his long as you are saying that you are still thinking about 32:00 not thinking about her, 32:01 which is in effect thinking about her. 32:02 So how do I get from not thinking about thinking 32:06 about her, to really not thinking about her? 32:08 Think about something else, makes sense? 32:14 Now what can come into my mind and occupy my mind so that I'm 32:20 not thinking about her? 32:22 Jesus, Jesus, when I fill my mind with Jesus I am not 32:30 thinking about her, nor am I thinking about not 32:34 thinking about her because I thinking about Jesus. 32:38 So the Bible says let this mind be in you which also was in 32:46 Christ Jesus, so that if you stop thinking about her long 32:51 enough, and keep thinking about Jesus, the thoughts of Jesus 32:56 replaced the thoughts of thinking about her. 32:58 After a while you really are not thinking about her, 33:01 you are only thinking about Jesus. 33:02 Amen! Let this mind being you which was also 33:06 in Christ Jesus. 33:07 The context again is a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. 33:11 Philippians 2:13, what book did I say? 33:13 Philippians 2:13, powerful text, 33:30 Powerful text on successful Christian living. 33:33 It is God who works in you both to will and to do. 33:42 Lord I want to stop thinking bad thoughts, 33:46 I have the will but I need the power to do. 33:50 So God in His goodness, will give us the will to stop and the 33:57 power to stop, can you say Amen? 34:01 That is a powerful thought when it comes to successful 34:04 Christian living and perfect relationships. 34:08 No matter what you have done, where you have been, 34:11 what you have committed, God will give you the will 34:15 to stop and the power to stop. 34:19 It would be terrible if God would tell us to stop 34:20 doing something and didn't do not give us the ability, not 34:24 give us the ability to stop. 34:25 So if God says don't do it, praise God that He gives you the 34:29 will not to do it, and the ability to stop doing it. 34:33 To be like Christ Jesus. 34:34 So our job is to let God work in our lives. 34:38 Our job is to be like Christ and let Christ do His 34:42 wonderful work in us. 34:44 That is biblical perfection. 34:46 Here's a powerful text, Romans 8, what book did I say? 34:48 I'm in the book of Romans and I want to commend to you again 34:51 this book of Romans. 34:53 It is a powerful book in the New Testament, 34:55 one of the strongest book that is just full of powerful God 35:01 breathed statements that will help us along our Christian 35:05 journey and this is one of them. 35:07 Romans 8:1, let's take a look at it. 35:26 There is no condemnation, and why is this so very important? 35:30 For this reason, even if you stop doing something of your own 35:37 suppose I am a thief. 35:41 One day the spirit of God touches me, or rather the 35:45 law is reaching out and I say you know what I am not going 35:50 to steal anymore. 35:52 And I never steal again, from the moment I stop stealing I am 35:57 no longer guilty of being a thief, true or false? 36:01 True, but what about the stealing I did in the past? 36:05 You see if the statutes of limitations run out, 36:09 and the police don't get me for 7 years, I cannot be held 36:12 responsible any more. 36:14 To the police I am not a thief, but what about 36:18 my sins of the past? 36:21 Those sins have to be taken care of. 36:24 Those sins have to be atoned for. 36:26 Those sins have to be dealt with or they still condemn me, 36:30 do you follow me? 36:32 So the Bible says there is now therefore no condemnation to 36:35 those that are in Christ Jesus, because being in Christ Jesus 36:38 takes care of my future sins, but it also takes care 36:42 of my past sins. 36:45 My old life becomes buried in the sea of forgetfulness. 36:49 They rise up to condemn me no more because Christ washes 36:53 those sins away so I can proudly say now there is no 36:57 condemnation because I am in Christ. 37:00 He takes care of my past, my present, and my future. 37:03 Praise God! 37:05 Let's go to verse 14. 37:20 These are indeed the sons of God. 37:24 Verse 16, let's go to verse 16. 37:32 So it is no longer fighting against ourselves, it is walking 37:37 with Jesus by faith. 37:39 Perfection then is a process that comes in us and through us, 37:43 we love to do the will of God. 37:45 We are pleased to do the will of God, because Christ 37:48 now is in us and anything that hurts God, hurts us. 37:50 Anything that is against God, is against what we are doing 37:53 because we are in Christ and Christ is in us. 37:55 Powerful text Ephesians 2:8, we have used it before, 38:00 what book did I say? 38:11 This is what is exciting about this thing called Christianity, 38:14 all you need to be saved comes to you 38:18 free of charge. Amen! 38:21 Free of charge, you don't have to pay for anything. 38:25 Everybody likes free of charge. 38:27 The only thing that my wife likes better 38:30 then clearance, is free. 38:33 There is one word that tends to stop her in the store, 38:36 it's when she sees the word clearance. 38:37 She stops cold in her tracks. 38:39 Because she is a bargain hunter, my wife doesn't like 38:42 to pay full price for anything and I don't blame her. 38:45 But when she sees that word clearance, it is like putting 38:47 on a red light, she screeches to a halt and heads 38:50 to the clearance rack. 38:52 The only thing better then clearance, is free. 38:55 God says salvation is free because the grace is free 39:01 and the faith is free. 39:03 All you have to do is open up and accept a free gift. 39:07 Don't you like to get free stuff? 39:08 I love free things. 39:10 The other day I went to a gas station and a lady gave my wife, 39:13 as we were driving up, a bunch of little scratch off card to 39:16 see if we could get free gas. 39:17 She scratched off, I think, 15, nothing sorry, sorry, sorry, 39:23 sorry, sorry, sorry, I said throw those things out, 39:28 nobody ever wins those things. 39:29 Sorry, sorry and all of a sudden bing, winner, 5 dollars 39:34 worth of gas, one gallon ha ha. 39:37 Maybe a gallon and a half, but we got a 5 dollar 39:39 gift certificate for free gas and we were excited like we won 39:43 a million dollars. 39:44 Five dollars, but it was free, well it wasn't really free 39:51 because you pay for it over time. 39:53 But it felt free and we were happy about it. 39:56 By grace you have been saved through faith and that not 40:00 of yourselves, it is a gift from God. 40:03 In the Old Testament there's a bunch of these statements. 40:06 Let's look up the book of Habakkuk, it is not one 40:09 that we turn to too often, but it has a very powerful 40:11 statement and is one of the ones that touched 40:13 Martin Luther's heart back there in 1500's when 40:16 he talked about and found out about free grace 40:19 and free faith. 40:20 Habakkuk 2:4, a Bible says. 40:32 A powerful statement. 40:34 Those who are justified, those who are righteous in God's 40:38 sight will live by faith. 40:41 And even the faith that we get is a gift from God. 40:45 Can you say Amen! 40:46 This is one of the greatest of all the doctrines of salvation, 40:51 the idea that faith comes from the Lord. 40:54 Hebrews 11:1, what book did I say? 40:57 The book is Hebrews 11:, 41:03 I think we have the wrong one, 41:05 I want to go to Hebrews 11:1, come back to me brethren 41:08 Hebrews 11:1, you know it. 41:11 But I want to read from the word of God rather than give you 41:15 my digest of it. 41:20 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 41:23 the evidence of things not seen. " 41:26 Faith makes the unreal, real. 41:31 Faith makes the unseen, seen. 41:35 Faith takes a God who inhabits the universe, and brings Him 41:41 down and places Him inside my heart. 41:44 Can you say Amen! 41:45 Faith does that and you can't do anything without faith. 41:49 The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please Him, 41:53 that is just six verses later. 41:55 Hebrews 11:6, For he who comes to God must believe that he is 41:59 and that he is a rewarder for those who diligently seek Him. 42:03 When we go to God, we know He is there and we know 42:06 that He hears us. 42:08 Let's look at faith, Hebrews 11:7, and now 42:11 we are ready for that. 42:15 Act of faith, Hebrews 11:8. 42:21 And your obedience comes by faith to, lets go on. 42:27 And we'll get to the land of promise by faith, lets go on. 42:35 You know the story, past childbearing age, but by faith 42:38 God gave her a son. 42:39 Hebrews 11:17. 42:44 Only son, he offered them up for a sacrifice and that had to 42:47 be an act of faith, let's go on. 42:48 Hebrews 11:20. 42:52 Again act of faith, let's go on, Hebrews 11:21. 43:00 Again act of faith, we do these things by faith. 43:03 Hebrews 11:22. 43:08 He said I am is here in Egypt, I am dying, when I am gone, 43:11 when we get free, dig up my bones and take me back to the 43:15 promised land, act of faith. 43:21 Again act of faith, he should have been killed, act of faith 43:23 held him there. 43:29 He knew that God had a plan for his life and he stepped into 43:31 that plan by faith. 43:32 Hebrews 11:27. 43:36 He left the palace, left all the comforts of the palace to 43:39 dwell with God's people. 43:40 Hebrews 11:28. 43:43 Talking about that faithful night when God had His people 43:46 leave and they had to put blood on the door post to make sure 43:48 that the death Angel passed over, let's go on. 43:50 Hebrews 11:29. 43:57 Act of faith, they had to put their feet in the water to make 44:00 sure God was going to do what God said He was going to do, 44:03 but God always does what He says He's going to do as long as 44:06 we do what we are supposed to do, Amen? 44:07 Hebrews 11:30. 44:12 Giants people in a giant city with giant walls, they walked 44:15 around the, down the walls came by faith. 44:18 Hebrews 11:31. 44:24 Woman of ill-repute, by faith she stuck with God's people, 44:28 stayed with God's people and God was true to His word. 44:31 God is always true to His word, can you say Amen? 44:36 Always, all we need to do is be true to our word. 44:40 Anyone who's ever accomplished anything glorious to the cause 44:43 of Christ, did so by faith. 44:45 Without faith it is impossible to please Him. 44:50 James 2:23. 44:53 Abraham, the Bible says, James 2:23. 45:07 You get to be called righteous simply because 45:09 you believe in God. 45:11 The word that is translated, belief and faith are 45:16 the same there coming from the Greek, same word. 45:20 Paul uses the same word in Hebrew and 45:23 it is translated faith. 45:24 Abraham's faith was accredited to him for righteousness. 45:28 What God did for Abraham, ladies and gentlemen I submit, 45:32 He will do for you. 45:34 Theologians call this justification, a moment you give 45:38 your heart to Jesus it is at that same moment that Christ 45:42 credits your faith with righteousness. 45:46 God is saying because you love Jesus, because you believe in 45:51 Him I give you credit for the perfection 45:55 that you are working towards. 45:57 While I'm in the process of making you a Saint, 45:59 I give you credit for being a saint. 46:02 I give you credit for being a true child of God. 46:06 I want to tell you what Christ can do for a person. 46:10 I mentioned this a couple nights ago, when I Pastored in 46:16 Manhattan, I did 117 funerals at one church. 46:20 The very first funeral I did at that church I had just gotten 46:25 there, I guess less than a month. 46:28 There was Lady they are who stands out in my mind to this 46:32 day and I can call her name. 46:33 Her name was Sister Kathleen Downes. 46:35 Kathleen Downes was a very faithful Deaconess in the church 46:39 an officer in the church, one of the mothers 46:41 of the church. 46:42 She was stricken down with cancer and Kathleen Downes, 46:47 I suspect when she was healthy she was about 5 foot 7, 46:51 maybe a 140, a 145 pounds. 46:54 When I met Kathleen she was 5 foot 7, about 92 or 93 pounds. 47:03 Cancer had taken control of her body and she could barely 47:07 speak, her sight was failing, her hearing was failing, but the 47:13 nurses and the doctors they are at Calvary Hospital in the 47:20 Bronx said, Pastor this lady is amazing because we know 47:26 she is in pain. 47:28 She doesn't take any of the pain medications. 47:31 She will not allow us to treat her, she's is failing fast. 47:37 But when you come into her room, all day long all she does 47:42 is sing about Jesus. 47:44 They said we know she is in pain, we know that she is 47:49 suffering and yet all day long there is a melody coming from 47:53 her room singing about Jesus. 47:55 Those times that I met with her, she never had a hard word 47:59 to say, she was not angry, she was not upset, 48:03 she wasn't shaking her fist at God. 48:06 She was just praising the Lord for life and for Jesus and for 48:11 the promise of the future. 48:13 Now the reason I say that is because I got a e-mail 48:17 just today, and someone said in that e-mail, 48:20 how can I praise God through the pain? 48:26 I am in pain all the time, how can I be faithful? 48:32 How can I praise the Lord? 48:33 I think about Kathleen Downes who praised the Lord 48:38 and sang for Him until she drew her last breath. 48:42 That is what faith in Jesus can do for you. 48:46 It can perfect you. 48:49 2 Corinthians 12:9 says Paul hearing from the Lord, 48:56 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is 49:04 made perfect in your weakness. " 49:07 The weaker you are the stronger God is. 49:12 The more you need Him, the more available He becomes. 49:20 Great peace have they who love God's law. 49:22 One of my favorite texts there in Isaiah 26:3 lets us know that 49:28 even in the toughest of times, 49:30 we can have joy and peace in Jesus, because of the 49:35 faith we have in Him. 49:37 Our weakness can be made perfect in His strength as 49:42 long as we hold on to the Lord. 49:46 I want to go to 2 Peter 1:5. 50:04 That comes by studying the word, and to virtue knowledge, and 50:09 knowledge there comes this desire 50:12 for self control in our lives. 50:15 You know when you commit your life to Jesus and 50:17 Jesus gives you control. 50:19 I heard one preacher say that life really is, 50:21 Christian life, really is commitment and control. 50:24 If you give your life Jesus, Jesus gives you control. 50:26 Then there's perseverance, and godliness, 50:29 and brotherly kindness, and love. 50:31 All of these things mixed together to make us successful 50:35 in Jesus, don't you want to be successful in Christ? 50:38 Do you want be successful in Christ? 50:40 You know I have said this before, one of the hardest 50:43 thing I think there is to do is try to be a server, 50:45 or a lover of Christ and not have Christ within. 50:48 One of the most miserable people I know are people who are 50:50 trying to be Christians without Jesus dwelling within. 50:52 You can't do it. 50:53 Because then your religion is just a form. 50:56 You have to have Christ dwelling within you. 51:00 Again I say let this mind be in "who?", in you. 51:05 Form this perfect, abiding, loving relationship with Jesus 51:11 Christ and I guarantee you that, 51:13 Jesus will see you through. 51:14 And every night when you call upon Him, 51:16 He will be there. 51:17 And every morning when you ask him to bless your day's work, 51:20 He will be there to bless you. 51:21 And when you are driving on the streets, 51:22 He will be there. 51:23 And when you're working at your job, He will be there. 51:25 And when you're at school, He will be there. 51:27 And when you are home with your family, 51:28 Jesus will be there. 51:29 And finally one day you will look up and see Him 51:32 face-to-face and He will reach out to you 51:37 and say come ye blessed of My Father and 51:43 inherit the kingdom I have for you. 51:44 And perfect hope will blend into perfect love, 51:49 the reality of an everlasting relationship with 51:53 Jesus Christ without end. 51:55 How many love Him tonight? 51:58 How many want to be perfect in Christ? 52:02 Therefore, be ye perfect. 52:05 If that is your will stand with me and we will close in 52:08 prayer, let's pray together. 52:10 Shall we stand, Father God, 52:12 help us to be perfect in You. 52:15 Perfect love, perfect relationship. 52:20 For truly perfect love casts out all fear. 52:26 Oh Lord, let there be no fear in our hearts, no fear of what 52:31 the world has to bring. 52:33 No fear of Satan and his trick's but give us a perfect love 52:38 relationship with You. 52:40 You said therefore be perfect, help us Lord to love You with 52:46 all our heart, with all our mind, and all our soul and we 52:52 will give our lives to You and we thank You in the worthy and 52:57 blessed name of Jesus, Amen! |
Revised 2014-12-17