Paul wanted to go to Rome as a witness, not as a sightseer (vs. 13). In fact, he was a "debtor" to those people, which means he thought he owed it to them to tell them about Jesus. We can learn from Paul's spirit here and be better witnesses. I see
three elements of witnessing here that we need to pay attention to. I. The first element is boldness. "I am not ashamed..." A. Verse 15 - He was not just unashamed, he was eager to share the gospel with the "sophisticated" Romans. B. Stop and think: What is there to be ashamed of? Jesus? Bible? Faith in Jesus? Being heaven bound? The Great Commission? Nothing here to be ashamed of. C. If we are serious about being witnesses, we must be bold about it. II. The second element is "the gospel of Jesus Christ." A. What we have to share is the good news about Jesus Christ. 1. About His incarnation. 2. About His being the promised Messiah. 3. About His perfect life and His ministry to the world in His day. 4. About His victorious death on the cross. 5. About His resurrection and His coming again. B.It is the good news about salvation for everyone who will believe in Jesus. "The power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." C. It is personal good news about our own experience of salvation in Jesus. We can share with people what He has done for us. III. The third element is that the gospel is inclusive. "....to the Jew first and also to the Greek." A. It is not just for people like us, or who agree with us. B. It is not just for people brought up in the church, but the "down and out" as well as the "up and out." C. The gospel of Jesus is for the whole world. This means that we should witness and minister where we are and pray for and give to missions around the world. Which of these elements can we leave out and be true witnesses of Jesus Christ? Let's claim all of these elements of Christian witness.
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It is still true that we need to "make the most of our time" because the "days are (still) evil." We need to get in the will of God and live in His timetable. It is time that our days be given to Him. Let's share some things that it is time for in our lives if we are to make the best use of our time.
I. It is time to take Jesus seriously. A. Because He is our Savior, Lord and Master - our hope. B. Because Jesus is our leader and guide in life through the Holy Spirit. C. Because Jesus is our sustainer in all of life. II. It is time to take Christian living seriously. A. Because "the days are evil." People are looking for genuine Christian living..... B. Because it is a life of love and love is what the world needs. C. Because it is a life characterized by joy. People need to see Christ's joy being lived out in our lives. III. It is time to take church seriously. A. Because it is Christ's church. B. Because it is our means of partnership and fellowship in these evil days. C. Because it is our vehicle for service. IV. It is time to take heaven seriously. A. Because heaven in our real home. B. Because heaven is waiting. C. Because heaven is forever. Friends, we really need to take all of these matters more seriously if we are to make the most of our time as witnesses for Jesus. IT IS TIME! Read this text carefully and you will discover that it centers on the person of Jesus Christ. He is the difference between being alive or dead. Let's consider the question
"dead or alive?" I. Vs. 12a People who are with Christ are spiritually alive. A. We have Christ, the living word, within us. It means that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and all that entails. B. We have the Bible, the written word, to guide us. Therefore, we need to read it, study it, believe it and digest it. C, We have prayer as a daily comfort and a daily challenge. Hebrews 4:16 D. We have eternal hope. II. Vs. 12b - People who are without Christ are spiritually dead. A. They are without Christ in the world. B. They are without a real moral compass. 1. There is no faith to guide them. 2. There is no Spirit to guide them. 3. There is no Bible to guide them. C. They are without real hope. Ephesians 2:12 They have no hope in this world, or in the world to come. D. They are without the comfort of Christian fellowship. Are you dead or alive. It all depends on whether or not you know Jesus Christ as your savior. This sermon idea is in the making since this morning (Feb. 24). So this is "hot off the press." I'm just thinking through the text. You might be able to come up with a better outline, or idea, than mine.
Psalm 10 gives an apt description of a wicked person. Instead of focusing on the whole Psalm, my focus will be on verses 1-6. I. Vs.1-4a - They are prideful. Notice in the verses the effect that pride has on their lives. There's a lot of preaching in there. II. Vs. 4b - They are doubters (Maybe unbelievers would be better.) They do not seek God. God is not in their thoughts. III. Vs. 5 - They are immune to God's judgment. God's judgments are out of their sight. This is a dangerous place to be, but there are many out there - even in churches. IV. Vs. 6 - They think they are indestructible. A wicked person thinks that he or she will go on and on in their wickedness, but a day of reckoning comes. (There is preaching in the verses that follow these that you might want to explore. It just seemed to me that vs. 6 would be a good place to stop.) While most of your chuch people might have a difficult time seeing themselves in here, it would be a good time to get them to dig deeply into their hearts and minds and uncover wickedness in their own lives. In these verses, Peter gave some final admonitions. I call them "The Keys to Victorious Living."
I. Verse 5a - Be submitted (subject) to one another. A. We are accountable to each other. B. We should advise each other, and be willing to listen. C. We should assist each other. D. We should agree with each other about Jesus. II. Verses 5b-6 - Be humble before God and people. A. Why? Verse 5b and Proverbs 3:34. B. Humbled under "the mighty hand of God..." 1. We are answerable to God first - period. 2. Psalm 100:3a: "Know ye that the Lord He is God...." C. When we humble ourselves, we will be "exalted in due time." III. Verse 7 - Be prayerful in all of life. A. "Cast" means to throw ourselves at God first. B. We can cast all of our cares upon Him. This includes personal problems, relationship problems, health problems, financial problems, etc. C. "Because He cares for you..." You will not really know the full impact of His care until you all your cares upon Him. IV. Verses 8-9 - Be diligent about the devil. A. Be sober and self-controlled. B. Be aware that the devil hates you and will seek to devour your life. C. Resist him in the faith, remembering that you are not alone in this battle. How are you doing with these keys? Who is not for peace? Indeed, we want peace in ourselves, among ourselves and in the world. But peace is an elusive gift of God that appears to be bypassing many people today. What we need is a Biblical perspective of peace, which is real peace.
I. Verse 27a - Real peace is from heaven. "My peace I give unto thee..." A. Real peace is a product of faith. 1. It is the peace of faith that Jesus left with us and gives to us. 2. John 14:1 and Romans 5:1-2, speak of peace that comes through faith. B. Real peace here has its roots in heaven. 1. John 14:2-3 speaks to this. 2. There is great peace in knowing that what is going on in this life is not all that there is. C. Real peace is based upon the coming of Jesus. II. Verse 27b - Real peace is not given by this world. "Not as the world gives..." A. The world tries to give peace by ignoring sin and guilt, which the bible teaches as root causes of a lack of peace in the human heart. B. The world passes off peace as the mere lack of conflict. C. The world's peace depends on what people can do, not on what God can do. 1. Peace does not come from self-help, psychiatry, etc. 2. This might come as surprise to politicians, but real peace does not come from negotiation. III. Verse 27c - Real peace is inside of us. "Let not your heart be troubled......" A. It is peace of heart, mind and soul. This peace begins with salvation through Christ, it deepens with prayer (Philippians 4:6-7) and ultimately manifests itself outwardly. B. It is peace in spite of outer circumstances. (John 16:33) C. It is peace that transcends fear. "neither let it be afraid." Bottom line: We have peace in Jesus and we can have all of His peace that we want. It is peace with God, others and ourselves. The church is not a building. It is not a club. It is not a mere organization, but a living body, and organism. Our text gives us a clear picture of what a church is.
I. Verse 18a - The church is the property of Jesus Christ. "I will build my church." A. It is not "our" church. B. The church belongs to Jesus. 1. He gave His life for it. Acts 20:28 2. He sent His Spirit to it. (Acts 2) 3. He has promised to never leave it and be in it. ("Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them.") C. The church is His only organization or organism. II. Verse 18b - The church is comprised of imperfect human beings. "Thou art Peter..." A. At this time, Peter was not a paragon of faith. 1. Think of his attempting to walk on water. 2. He always spoke too quickly as at Mt. of Transfiguration. 3. He denied that he knew Jesus. B. This means us as well, no matter how imperfect we are, we are His church. 1. His church is built on our faith. 2. His church is built by our service. 3. His church is built on our dedication. 4. His church is built on our prayers. 5. His church is built on our willingness. 6. His church is built on our witness. C. The church to which we belong will be as great as we allow Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to make it, as we follow their leadership. III. Verse 18c - The church is indestructible. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it...." A. Make no mistake, local churches can and do die when the member put themselves ahead of Christ. Revelation 2:5 B. But the body of Christ cannot be destroyed. 1. Christ's church will always exist in one form or another. 2. There will always be multiple expressions of Christ's church in one form or another. 3. The devil cannot kill it, no matter how hard he tries - and he does. Christ's church is bigger than the devil and is bigger than our mully- grubbing little foibles. C. Christ's church cannot be destroyed because it belongs to Him!!!!!!! This is Christ's church. It is comprised of imperfect people, but is sustained by the eternal God. This is going to be rare sermon of mine that is not verse by verse. It is also unusual in that I use the word "REVIVAL" as an acrostic. I used this sermon to start a revival meeting.
Both of our texts are heart cries for revival. Do you agree that we need revival? The question for today is "How do you spell revival?" I. Renew your relationship with God. A. This is why we need revival. (Psalm 51:12) B. Jesus wants you back in good relationship. He still says, "Come unto me......" II. End all hostilities. A. Broken relationships are the opposite of revival. B. We need to heed Paul's advice in Colossians 3:12-14. III. Victory over the devil. A. The devil never wants your church to be revived and will all he can to put a stop to it. B. The Bible gives some good advice on this. 1. Beware: 1 Peter 5:8-9 2. Resist: James 4:7 IV. Intercede for each other. A. Prayer is the key to revival. D.L. Moody: "Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure." B. Prayer for each other will help bring revival. V. Volunteer your time. A. Volunteer your time to attend the services. Lay everything else aside. B. Volunteer your time to invite people and to witness to the lost. VI. Anointed, Spirit-filled people. A. On Pentecost in Acts 2 the disciples were filled with the Spirit and great things happened. B. Will you be filled? VII. Let your light shine. A. Matthew 5:16 tells us to do this. B. Let your light shine everywhere you are this week, and kee The Holy Spirit is part of our everyday lives. When we were saved, Jesus gave Him to us to enable us to live the Christian life and to witness. However, we need to be aware of some "no nos" pertaining to His work in our lives.
I. Do not grieve Him. Ephesians 4:29-32 A. Vs. 29 - We grieve Him when corrupt communication comes out of our mouths. B. Vs. 31 - We grieve Him when our lives are full of the things listed in this verse. C. Vs. 32 - The things listed here will keep us from grieving Him. (All opposite of Vs. 31) II. Do not quench Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 A. To quench Him means to put out his fire. B. Look carefully at verses 16-22 of 1 Thess. 5. This list of items will keep us from quenching His fire in our lives. C. Don't let your life quench the Holy Spirit. III. Do not lie to Him. Acts 5:3 A. Look at what happened to Annanias and Sapphira. B. What did they do that was so bad? 1. They made a false commitment. 2. They promised what they did not deliver. 3. They lied to the Holy Spirit. C. Be careful about lying to the Holy Spirit. Doing so might not kill you physically as with Annanias and Sapphira, but it will kill you spiritually. IV. Do not resist Him. Acts 17:51 A. Don't resist Him in the matter of being saved. B. Don't resist Him the matter of being led in life. C. Don't resist Him in whatever you do. Do not say no to the Holy Spirit, say yes. (This sermon was presented by J.W. Harper to The Preacher's Goldmine. For further explanation of the Preacher's Goldmine source, go to the introduction to A Christian's Companion in the Walk, two sermons down.)
Introduction: Some forts that Satan builds against us: I. Indifference A. Revelation 3:16 B. Indifference is the curse of our day. C. Satan is the builder of this fort. II. Doubt -- Matthew 4:3 A. To doubt the Sonship of Christ is to halt on the brink of eternity. B. To doubt is to reject Christ and salvation. C. To doubt might be to neglect salvation until it's too late. III. Deception -- Galatians 6:7 A. By the riches of this world. B. By our own hearts. C. By the power of Satan. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 IV. Unbelief -- "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1 A. In the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. B. In Christ as the Lord of our lives. Acts 2:36 C. Unbelief is the sin that damns men's souls. John 8:24 1. Here is the fort that defeats us. 2. Here is the fort that must be taken at all costs. |
All of these materials are free of charge. There is no copyright on them and you are free to use them as you see fit. I am happy to be of assitance to you in your preaching/teaching minstry.
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