Today will begin at the bottom. Verse 7 mentions a "sound mind." The Greek word means a "right mind" or a "sane mind." If you want to be in your right mind, you will need deal with fear, power and love. I'm not suggesting that you are crazy, but that if you want to have a sound mind as far as the Bible is concerned, you need to deal with these three things.
I. Fear: Do not be afraid. A. The word carries the idea of being cowardly. B. ....of being timid. C. Of being controlled by fear. 1. Fear is not always bad. There are things that should make us afraid, the problem with many people is that they are controlled by their fears. 2. Two illustrations: (1) An acronym: False Expectations Appearing Real (2) Charlie Brown: "I've developed a new philosophy, I will only dread one day at a time.....Terrible way to live! II. Power: Use the power that God has made available to you. A. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. 1. If you are saved, you have Holy Spirit power in you to help you live unafraid and in your right mind. 2. Think of it: It is the power of God in your heart - your inner sefl. B. It is the power of the faith in Christ, who saved you. Jesus said that if you have faith the size of the tiny mustard seed, you can move mountains. C. You are in your right mind if you are living with the realization of the power that God has given you to live. III. Love: Practice God's love. A. The Greek word is Agape (ahgahpay) which is the word used in John 3:16, 1Corinthians 13, etc. B. It is God's kind of love as shown in the life of Jesus Christ: 1. Sincere 2. Sacrificial 3. Selfless C. We need to practice this love even in a hostile environment...... Based on these three points, are you in your right mind?
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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. 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 is a recurring Biblical theme: "Our God is able to deliver us..." For example, Shadrach, Meschah and Abednego could not deliver themselves from the fiery furnace. Without the presence of God they would have been "toast." (pun intended)
God, as we know Him in Jesus, has no ceiling on His abilities - no limitations. There are many things that He will not do, or does not do, but there is nothing that He cannot do. We will demonstrate this theme, "Our God is Able," in some situations that we all face. I. God/Jesus is able to help us overcome obstacles. Exodus 14:13-16 & 21-22 A. The Red Sea was an impossible obstacle for God's people but not for God. 1. They were stopped "dead in their tracks" with Pharaoh's army behind and the Red Sea ahead. What were they to do? 2. Ex. 14:16 & 21-22 - They were to trust God. (A good lesson for us.) B. He is able when we are "stopped dead in our tracks" by life's overwhelming obstacles. For example: 1. Personal problems can stop us. All kinds of things within us and around us, can overwhelm us and we do not have the personal resources to overcome them. Trust Jesus! He is able! 2. Interpersonal problems can stop us. There are personality conflicts, family conflicts and job related conflicts - even church conflicts. Turn them over to Jesus for He is able. C. If we only do what we can do to overcome our personal obstacles, they will overwhelm us. We move forward when we totally trust to Lord to deal with them as He did with the Red Sea. II. God/Jesus is able to deliver us when we are at our wit's end. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 A. Paul could do nothing about his "thorn in the flesh." He was "at his wit's end." 1. Even prayer did not make it cease. Then what was/is the answer? 2. Vs. 9 - God's grace intervened so that Paul could go on in spite of it. Do not underestimate the power of God's grace. B. This is also about our pain, our weaknesses, our defeats, our despair - our "thorns." 1. His grace will give us the will and courage to keep going. 2. The power of God's grace is at work in our lives, even when we are at "our wit's end." (God is never at "His wit's end.") I love a quote from W.T. McClean: "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a prayer knot and hang on." C. If God solved everything for us, we could not develop faith and character, nor could we grow in His grace. III. God/Jesus is able to deliver us from our sins. No one else can!!!! Psalm 51:1-3; Psalm 32:5 and 1 John 1:9 A. Only He is able to forgive us and deliver us from sin. 1. Do not try to ignore sin. You can't! 2. Do not try to overcome sin by your own strength and will, rather, present yourself to Jesus as a repentant sinner in need of forgiveness. 3. Do not try to excuse sin in your life. B. 1 John 1:9 tells us that only Jesus can cleanse us from sin. C. He is able to give us victory over sin by our faith in Him. Our God is able under any and all circumstances in our lives. Let us lean on His infallible ability as we face life's obstacles He is able in your life too. Lean on Him! |
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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