At this time, Jesus was popular because of the healing of people. On this crowded scene come four men carrying their friend on a stretcher of some sort. The crowd was an obstacle for them, but they overcame it. We can learn from them.
I. Vs. 4a - They would not be stopped. A. They could have fussed about the crowd. B. They could have said "What's the use," and quit. C. They could have whined about how unfair life is. II. Vs. 4b - They found a way. A. They "uncovered the roof..." The houses in those days had flat roofs that were put together with boards with mud holding them together. There were stairs up to the roof....... B. If we want to do something badly enough, we will do it. 1. They had a desire....... 2. They had a purpose...... 3. They had a plan..... C. You can find a way. III. Vss. 5-12 - They did it by faith. A. Vs. 5 - Their faith was obvious. Jesus saw their faith. B. Their faith was powerful because it was directed at Jesus. C. Their was was rewarded. We need to learn from the actions of these men. We need
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The context of this verse is Jeremiah's call to renewal of faith in God to Judah.
I. Stand A. Stand up for the right ways though no one else seems to be doing so. B. Ways we can stand: 1. Stand strong! 2. Stand together! 3. Stand in love! C. Look at Ephesians 6:14 II. See A. "There are none so blind as they who will not see...." B. Ways we can see: 1. See Jesus (Look to Him) It was Jesus who said: "Open your eyes and look on the fields." 2. See ourselves and our responsibilities. 3. See needs around us as Jesus would. 4. See the lost all around us. C. Bottom line: We should see what God is trying to show us. III. Ask ('for the old paths") A. Ask for courage to do the right thing. B. Ways to ask: 1. Ask in faith. 2. Ask for holy vision. 3. Ask for the wisdom to live right. 3. Ask for forgiveness. C. Remember: "We have not because we ask not...." IV. Walk A. As we stand, see and ask, we need to watch how we walk, or live. B. Ways to walk: 1. Walk straight. 2. Walk in love. 3. Walk together. C. Assess your own walk, your own life, based on what you've heard. Sad: "But they said, We will not walk therein." But it doesn't have to be this way. The promise was that if they walked "therein" the would "find rest for their souls." The same promise is ours if we will "walk there We see the reverse of this rule: "Do unto others before they do unto you." or "You got the gold, you make the rules." These are the world's answers, which are opposite of what Jesus said. He wants us to live by the Golden Rule.
I. Its Content A. It is broad: "in all things" in NIV: "so in everything..." 1. But what if they hurt us or one of our family? 2. But what if they get on our nerves? 3. But what if they obviously don't like us? B. It is clear and plain. 1. There is no escape clause or "except" or "unless...." 2. We have to love as Jesus loved, and practice grace as Jesus did. 3. Look at Luke 6:27-31 and see how to live out the Golden Rule. C. It is practical and useful. 1. If we all lived by this rule this would be a better world....better families.... better churches. 2. It would keep us from getting bitter. II. Its Challenge A. Its difficulties: 1. It is not the way Satan's world system works. 2. It awakens ourr weaknesses and makes us feel used and abused without the practice of God's grace in our lives. B. Its benefits: 1. Practicing it would make us more like Jesus. 2. It would keep others from determining our reactions. 3. It would keep us from embarassing ourselves by bad reactions. C. Only the Lord can help us meet the challenges of the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is not given as a suggestion. Living by it will make us better people and better witnesses. This is the last sermon in our series on "The Christian Walk" in Ephesians. This ser- mon will be about how we live our lives, and is concerned with the quality of our lives.
I. Vss. 15-16 - Be careful A. Vs. 15 - To walk "circumspectly" is to be careful how we live. 1. "not as fools" 2. "but as wise" B. Vs. 16a - "Redeeming the time" means to make the best use of your time. Do not waste your life on things that will not ultimately matter. C. Vs. 16b - We should be careful how we live because "the days are evil." Are you influencing people toward the good? II. Vss. 17-19 - The content or quality of your life A. Vs. 17 - Be wise in considering God's will for your life. That's where the quality of life is. B. Vs. 18 - Don't waste your life by depending on things like alcohol and drugs. Let the Holy Spirit determine what you concentrate on. C. Vs. 19 - Spend time in private and public worship. Have song in your heart! III. Vss. 20-21 - Be thankful A. "Always for all things." That's a tall order but is certainly possible. B. "Unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are not just giving thanks, but we are surrenderin to the Lord, who makes our lives better and makes us thankful. C. Vs. 21 - "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Because of our great reverence for the Lord we are able to submit to each other in fellowship. If you will follow this text and adopt it into your lifestyle, you can live a victiorous Christian life. The title appears to be about psychology, but it is really about theology. Our well-being is not wrapped up in ourselves; rather it is in God's hands, and this what our text teaches.
I. Vs. 25 - The Command A. This does not mean to be unmindful or unconcerned. B. It means not to worry and fret about things. 1. Your life is in God's hands. Let him make a difference in how you live. 2. Your food and clothes. This does not mean that you shouldn't care what you eat or what you wear. It means that God will see that these things are provided. C. If you want a better life, heed this command. II. Vss. 25b-33 - The Condition A. Vs. 25b - There are more important things to be concerned about. B. Vss. 26 and 28-30 - The question to consider is, if God is concerned about these things, is He indifferent toward you? Think about it! C. Vs. 27 - The fact is that worry accomplishes nothing and takes up time that would be better spent in faith and trust in God. D. Vs. 32 - TRUST THAT GOD KNOWS - PERIOD! III. Vs. 34 - The Correction A. "Seek" - Do something about it. B. "Seek ye the kingdom of God." 1. Make God and His kingdom a priority in your life. 2. What are your priorities now? Be honest with yourself. C. "And all these things will be added unto you." Just trust that God will take care of you. It all boils down to trusting God and living for HIm. It means to surrender to God's will for your life and make that a priority. Here is yet another installment of "The Christian Walk." Tonight's sermon is on "Walking in the Light." In a world of darkness, we are supposed to shed the light of Christ.
I. Vs. 8a - "For you were sometimes darkness." A. This is a reference to how the Ephesians, who lived in a pagan society and worshipped the goddess Artemis, lived before they were walked in the light of Christ. B. We can see how they lived in Ephesians 4:17-20 As you go through these verses, you can point out what kind of lifestyle that would be. It would characterize walking in darkness rather than light. C. Perhaps some of the Ephesians were tempted to go back....... II. Vss. 8b-10 - But now you are light. A. Look at the difference in these verses and verse 19 of Ephesians 4. They make a startling contrast. B. "Proving what is acceptable," refers to their witness to the people who were living in darkness. Which is what we are supposed to do and to be. C. The dark world that we live in needs for us to live the light of Christ before them. III. Vss. 11-14 - And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. A. Stay away from the people who are living in darkness, or at least do not be influenced by them. B. We are to be witnesses to the dark world because of their dark lifestyle as reflected in verse 12. C. Vss. 13-14 tell us that the light reveals and illumines the darkness of sin and the light of Christs. To conclude, go back to verse 11 where it s s "rather reprove them." To me this would mean not so much what we say to them, but how we lives our lives before them that will reprove the lifestyle of darkness. We need to get serious about this. Paul usually closed his letters with some good advice about living the Christian life. Our text is a case in point. I call it a "Recipe for an Effective Christian LIfe." Here is the recipe:
I. Vs. 1 - Stand fast A. Stand fast on the word - the Bible. B. Stand fast on the issues. Not every political issue is a Christian issue, but abortion and same sex marriage, for example, are moral issues that are not just politics. C. Stand fast on the church. II. Vss. 2-3 - Quit fussing A. Two powerful women who had been good workers, were evidently fussing and people were evidently taking sides. B. Paul advised them to help the women I think that this meant they were not to take sides, which is what keeps fussing going. C. This is an ongoing problem in churches and needs to be dealt with. III. Vs. 4 - Rejoice A. Sometimes its hard to tell whether we are at a celebration of Jesus' resurrection or his funeral. B. People are attracted to joyful people, and that is what we are supposed to be. C. Do you rejoice, or do you have an attitude of rejoicing? IV. Vss. 5-7 - Pray A. Some say "when all else fails, pray". It should be "before all else fails, pray." B. Instead of being careful and anxious we need to take all things to the Lord. C. Look at the great promise of what prayer will do in your life and make it more effective for the Lord. V. Vs. 8 - Think right A. Look at this list of virtues. We should seek all of them. B. This verse describes an effective Christian life. You can take John 3:16 and tell people how to be saved and this verse and tell them how to live the Christian life. C. These are what we should show the world. Based on these are you really attempting to live and effective Christian life? I think youu will agree that this is a good recipe for an effective Christian life. This sermon in this series is on the "Walk in Love."
I. The Bible was not written with chapters and verses; therefore, the verses that close chapter 4 are related to 5:1. Note the word "therefore" in vs. 1. This means that what is there relates to what went before. Look at 4:31-32 and see how they relate. II. Verses 1-2 - We are to love as Christ loved. A. His love for us was sacrificial - "hath given Himself" B. This means that we are to love sacrificially. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends....." C. If we have a genuine Christian walk, we are seeking to love as Jesus loved. It is not easy. III. If we are to love as Jesus loved, it will help us to see what Jesus Himself said about His kind of love. For this we turn to Matthew 5:43-47 A. Vss. 43-44- He tells us to love our enemies. 1. "Bless them that curse you..." 2. "Do good to them that hate you..." 3. "Pray for them which despitefully use you..." B. Vs. 45 - He tells us that if we want to be recognized as God's people, we will love like this. C. Vss. 46-47 - If we just love those who love us, we are not really loving as Jesus loved. Let's close by seeing how Jesus lived out His love. In Luke 19, Jesus was passing through Jericho. Zacchaeus, the tax collector and the most hated man in Jericho, was the one that Jesus chose to go home with, save and change. Hopefully, we all want to do the right thing. Our text will help you to know what it means to do the right thing.
I. Vs. 7-8a - Get right with God. A. Submit to God -- resisit the devil - in that order! You can't resist the devil until submitted to God. B. Draw near to God.... C. He will draw near to you. If you feel that God has forsaken you, remember that He is right where He has always been. He didn't move, you did. II. Vss. 8b-10 - Get right with yourself. A. Vs. 8b - Cleanse your hands -- purify your hearts. Get right inside and out!!!! B. Vs. 9 - Really be sorry for your sins. This is not about lifestyle. It means that if you are not right with God, you should not be happy. C. Vs. 10 - Humble yourself. III. Vs. 11 - Get right with other people. A. Don't speak evil of people. This is what gets us out of sorts with each other. B. Watch your tongue. Words really can hurt. C. We can't judge, but we can care. IV. Vss. 13-16- Get right in the plans for your life. A. Vs. 13 - Don't presume on tomorrow. B. Vs. 14 - Accept our limitations of time and make the best of it. C. Vss. 15-16 - Seek God's will. Vs. 17 - This verse brings a fitting end to this sermon. |
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