The Way of Christ, part 1

I think I did things this way the first time I know it's for y'all I'm going to try it again this morning, a little more tired this time. So in the habit of lifting up instant prayers every now and then then I'd ask for one now pray that the horde might help me bring his message here this morning, even if I'm a bit tired but the in the two messages that I've had with you, we looked at what price message was. And so the first one, we looked at his announcing the kingdom. What it was going to do was going to be involved to enter into that Kingdom. That was based around The Sermon on the Mount and then the second message. We looked at what he said would respect to ourselves a shin. If we've made the decision to follow, Jesus been born again then how secure is that I can. We see evidence of that in the lives of others and our own life. So we looked at those questions. The last time I spoke with you in today, Look at the message of Christ in this. So this is the first of two messages on that we're looking at, Al Christ that out to accomplish his mission, back of the first part of that today. And so the sermon title was the way of Christ and you'll see that in my mind anyway, that that's has perhaps three different meanings. Or when we talked about the way, one can be a choice or a direction that you move in a path that you made up about that first. Then a way I can be your way of life, your manner of Life. How you go about, living your life? What you liked about it? And we'll talk about that second. And the third thing is, is way as a method what was his method of polishing? His purpose and setting up the world to continue in that purpose after he was ascended in back with the father... Last Begin all of this want to read the three scripture verses that I'm basing. It on read those for him. So we'll start with a piece of The Sermon on the Mount in chapter 7, Matthew where Jesus talks about the narrow gate. Hear these words of the Lord Jesus says, enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious, that leads to destruction. There are many who enter through it. I'll narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life. And there are few who find it. I'm going to read all three passages here and then we'll take them one at a time. I got, the second passage is a familiar one. And this is from John's gospel chapter 14, the disease again, are the words of the Lord? Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, except through me, then our last message is again from John and this is in the 17. This is from what they call Jesus High Priestly prayer, so he was Jesus prayed for his disciples and for the people that his disciples will reach in and teach so that they become disciples in the, in the movement, Jesus is movement the way will continue through that ending effort and I figured you was on my way to use a few pieces. Says, I am praying on behalf of them, I'm not praying on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you're giving me cuz they belong to you, I'll be there on the first 17 set them apart in the truth. The word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world and I set myself apart on their behalf so that they too may be true. Is set apart. I'm not praying only on their behalf but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony for God can people guide Break through first piece, Jesus talks about the narrow gate and the few find it until I spoke of that understanding of a way, as being a choice or read. One more piece to get us in the right frame of mind for that. In this, I'm going back into the Old Testament in the very first song in The Book of Psalms in, this was important because the book of Psalms was like, a warship manual for the Hebrew people, they knew most of these, and they considered the 1st to the especially important, because it's sort of, that's the tone of God's message through his people. And let us read the first two. Verses of the first song says, a blessing is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with centers or sit in the Assembly of scoffers. Instead, he finds pleasure in obeying, the Lord's commands meditates Superman's day and night for didn't read the rest, it short, he's like a tree planted by flowing streams if yields its fruit at the proper time and its leaves never fall off, he succeeds and everything he attempts not. So with the wicked instead, they are like windrip and chat for this reason. The wicked cannot withstand judgment, North and sinners. Join the Assembly of the God would certainly the Lord guards, the way of The Godly, but the Way of the Wicked ends and destruction, so that's speaking to the choice that has always been a part of the human experience. We started out doing all the way back to consider what the Bible said about creation of humans. In in Genesis, when I did the first message, we all fled Into The Sermon on the Mount. So they're in the Garden of Eden before the fall was, are you going to be obedient to the one restriction? And I gave you In God's view. God thinking of giving you only one restriction. You're in the midst of this paradise. Everything is perfect and designed exactly for your benefit and you have no, no needs as we fill them today, have no concerns or worries. You're the perfect place. The only thing I say is don't eat from this one particular tree. So he set up that choice to be made of. Are you going to the choice really? Was, are you going to stay in fellowship with me and be obedient to the one? Small rule that I gave you or is that something you're unwilling to do so, you know how that went and human beings and say that we're prideful by Nature, any rebellious by Nature? I know the Bible talks about the Jewish, people all throughout the Old Testament, being a stiff-necked people, and being rebellious. But the point is, by the time we get to the writers of the songs, they saw. Your situation now it's after the fall in the situation now was, what path are we going to choose? Are we going to choose the app? But say that God has given the terms of the music, provided the law. And he said, you know, are you willing to leave by this set of rules now, Ten Commandments and interpretation of those? Are you willing to live by those and then doing that? Come back into relationship with me or not? I'm so someone leaves out that choices says, no, or are you going to walk in the ways of the wicked or you going to turn from there and said all of the other path. But Jesus by the time we get to the part of red by Jesus about the narrow gate, by that time we see that the path is often chosen. Talk about why maybe, but the beginning and someone laying out a choice are you going to be in Rebellion or Are you going to be reconciled with God and follow the way of life that he laid out for us? In our recent life here, in, in this country. Anyway, that's a little bit. Like the movie series The Matrix. I'm dating myself now and maybe some know what I'm talking about. And then that the hero comes out to be the hero. He doesn't realize himself that he's the hero when it begins, but he's presented with a choice in the choice, in the movie was in the form of a different pills, two different colored pills. And so you could choose one and stay unaware of the sort of meaningless life that he's been living, where you could choose the other one and be led down a path. I start heading down a path of Swords, we would say freedom in and being completely different from that Old way of life. And so he's got a clear choice to me. Just like in, someone had one more piece of an example where God has presented a choice. So the Hebrew People said they were rebellious and stiff neck when they're wandering in the desert, they complained against the way things were going for them to start to Grumble, and God had brought some correction, some pretty severe correction in the form of poisonous, snakes that were biting, the people throughout, y'all remember the story. And so Moses, interceded and said, Lord, and get your get your message message been received, you know, can you save us now from the snakes? And and so the mechanism to achieve that salvation from those poisonous snakes that God set up and ridiculous to them at the time. But what it was was to put a model of a snake card or passed out of brass and put that on a stick and stand that up where people could look at it. And the solution was if you were a been bitten by one of these deadly snakes, only thing you could do. Save you. And the only thing you had to do to save, you was to look up at that asked bronze snake on a stick, anybody that did that was cured from the poisonous, spider bite that sort of Bible study, and people would say, is a foreshadowing of Christ in his owning death on the cross. And so, hope all is one of the churches is call felt weird. He said that he talked to do nothing among them, but preach Christ and him crucified. And so, I think about that each time I try to give a sermon, that, that should be the bulk of the sermon. Whatever, the rest of the message is that ought to at least be part of a message and it is for us in this message today. So, it's a choice, are we willing to ask, or hope for salvation? The only one that can bring it. And that's Jesus Christ. But, that's that idea, of the way being a choice, you just says, I am the way. In the life. No one comes to the father, except on me. It's exactly like that situation in the desert with the Hebrews know, they had one thing they could do to be saved. Jesus is saying the same kind of choices before you now, and I'm the person that you have to choose. There's at the other piece for his interpretation of, what does it mean to talk about the way of Christ? Way of Christ as being his his way of life that he modeled for us in the flesh. And so what can we say that Christ model for us as the way we should. I would say that he showed above all, I think that his life was a life of obedience to the will of his father to God on my life was one, I would say, humble servant food, life was one of you would say sacrificial, love. And then, I would say that his life was one that What is concerned with the law to get a part for the Lost? Found trying for all the people that he declared when he started his ministry, would come help. So he said, from the set, the captives free from the bring sight to the blind, in addition to living that type of life. He also cleared and what I read in the New Testament, about his sense of purpose, back up a second year of the city. You lived a life of abeyance to the father. And so we tend to forget because it's not laid out for us, is nothing given to us in the Bible about the childhood of Jesus. Really the only one or two episode of The Last of those before he begins his ministry, is a grown man is when they go for one of the festival's that Phoenix was required for, with the Jewish people that go to Jerusalem, is, mom is dead, the family. And after the feast is over, they are headed back to Nazareth and halfway there. They realize Jesus isn't among them anymore so they can't find him in their big traveling group is traveling together and they go back to find him and they find him in the temple and chewy. And it says, if you've been teaching in the people there in the temple were amazed at his chief of years old at this point. So one writer has said, well, that would indicate that no in their culture. Once a young man was 12 years old, he was considered adult, they had a ceremony ceremony to recognize that fact and celebrated in, you know, he could begin living life as a man, you will not full grown yet, but beginning to take on for the adult responsibilities and decisions. Right through one writer says, specially built around the factory that says Jesus in interacting with those religious leaders in the temple. They were amazed at his teaching Understanding his answers questions of Things are Written in their scripture. So then all we know is that he did not for 18 years so it says he went on to the writer makes is it? Jesus went back home to his family, found him sort of a little frustration with him like you know, did you know? We were worried about you and he says you know I had to be my father's house. Once they got settled down, he went back to his family and learned the trade of his father Carpenter. And all of the Bible says, was that he was obedient to his mother. That's sort of the end of the story until we see him. Come on the scene. Over the point was he live in obedience, through his mother being and I would say being a nobody in Nazareth, for 18 years till it was right in God's time in the beginnings Ministry. When I make a sense of purpose, when he began his ministry is where I was going with that when he began his ministry that point on, it seems like he's fully focused on his mission of bringing restoration to people the world through the Salvation that he's going to accomplish on the cross. So the beginnings of that is to prepare disciples that are going to take that message forward. Once he's Free spins. The three years preparing, those twelve men and wrap some others that were not as close as those 12. But the point is he engaged in effort and time to prepare and those men and he modeled how to do that so that they could do it. And when he prays in the prayer that I read to you, he says ready for the people that are going to come to Faith. See what these will do the ones that they trained in the ones that are trained by those people. And if so that wasn't planned, that was God's plan. And people say, there is no plan B for him. One plan is to do Believers, how to any other believers who reach and train. Other believers will reach in training, all the Believers multiplying effort. And we know that it in a relatively short time after Jesus Ascension that group reaches the Moon. World at their time with that message and not everybody came to Faith. Jesus says narrow is the gate and few will find it. We don't understand exactly what you means. We don't know how few maybe not our business to know how few all our businesses Believers is, is to understand that that's our mission as well. It was Christ mission that he was in your focused on for those 3 years and whether we can guess about, you know, how effective he thought that had been, you know, that he said, when I'm gone, I'm going to give the comforter, you the Holy Spirit. Holy spirit, will bring back to your mind. The things that I taught you and the Holy Spirit will help and guide us in other ways as well. But pointed is Jesus was saying I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I'm going to have a helper like me that will help you in this work pointing out. The fact that he says that work is meant to continue. I'm not going to leave you without help. I'm going to give you the help you need is just how I would say he's looking at it. I'm going to give you the help you need that you will need. When I tell you up front, that it might be dangerous or not. It might be awkward at times or not, as difficult as the gate, and difficult to the path that leads to heaven. We should not expect this going to be easy, but if we're honest, we don't get too excited about doing things that are easy to do these. That's the thing. With men, may be more to the women, I don't know, but we tend to like a challenge you like, you would call it, wouldn't want to call it a noble cause, no heroic thing to be engaged in. And that's what this is for. The we realize that or not, it's part of the encouragement. I want to give each person in here today. Our young, however, old, if you're a Believer that's that's what are, that's what our mission is. That's what our job is. We May not have seen it that way, everyday. We kind of gotten comfortable and we don't think of it in those terms, but Jesus thought of it in those terms and he viewed, it is what it is. Your Warfare against an enemy and talk about the enemy for a second. Baseman Bible causing the accuser. So you remember from the book of Jobe, there's a, there's a scene where right at the start of the book of Jobe, God sort of Bragg's on jobos, being a righteous man has been wandering around through the world, observing people got says, what you been doing that? If you noticed my servant Joe, a good man that is and Satan accuses him of doing it for the wrong motives. Satan says, well, you know, he's only a good man because you bless them, you take all those blessings away. He'll curse you to your face though. The thing with the joads example signal fuses him and God What are the rest of the chapter of the book of Jobe? God, lets lets that be put to the test fee? You know what it? What is your view? This job's going to do what? Satan accuses him of or not know, the queues are still in that business. So the Bible says, if you know Jesus thing at the right hand of God right now alive in the body or the record for mother's body live as he was, when he walked among us sitting, at the right hand of the father in the Bible, says he's sitting there to intercede on our behalf. Was that mean? It means when Satan comes up like you did with Joe because it may be God's bragging on Sarah and says, I have you seen my servants are pretty good, huh? See he might say, well how about this from Sarah's pass for? This is Sarah said yesterday to her, husband were whatever. And so, Jesus, is there to intercede on our behalf. Session is he says, will Sarah's covered by my righteousness. Has charged that accusation isn't going any further Bible. Also says that Holy Spirit in those circumstances for us, even when we can force the fair ourselves, even when we don't even realize, what we should be praying over trying. And we're too upset to think like we can't get our prayer out. Holy spirit is praying for us and it says the holy spirit is praying for us in the will of God. That's pretty powerful weapon to have on your side. Having the Holy Spirit praying to God for us and praying it in the will of God. Prayer is offered in the will of God and God answers. And in Grant's lose petition, in last piece, is there's a verse in the Bible where it says God himself. Far as us. And so, my illustration was Satan was new with our children, for those of us who can head and raise children. Remember when we were a child whole thing about fairness, though, one of the things that I was quick to point out and my children after needing fall too far from the tree, they were quick to point out that there is any instance when it seemed like I was not a plane fairness but it's not fair. So I can see you saving coming before God with an accusation on anyone. And so if you look at it from a legal courtroom kind of situation. Comes in prosecutor than the latest case out. And basically, the way we would say that the judge the jury and everybody else is on our side and then, it's made noon right up front. That they're on our side. God is in self is Justified as Christ. And his right hand is interceding on my behalf and the Holy Spirit. Waiting for us, in the will of God in the matter, and the Bible then shows. We have complete victory in that sequence of events in in this is from John chapter, 8 about God being the one that justifies its price interceding for us, fully Spirit, praying for us that chapter 8, in John ends up saying in that we have total Victory and so the accusation doesn't get anywhere for saving he can look at that and say let them seem fair. I'm okay. So talk about the choice up front, making a decision to take the start heading down a path, talk about what the life is like when she make that choice with the life of a disciple is like as muddled by Jesus as you go down a path of what he wants us to live the way he wants us to live and what he wants is to be focused on what do you want? That is our mission as we go along that path. Talked about that last piece, I talked about it, a little already his method. So his method was to do an issue training since its preparation of a small team. He didn't seek out. A mega church congregation and do some big flashing message. He bought face-to-face person to person with small groups at a time. It doesn't really show that he talked one-on-one that much for like one on a few. So him with a few. Nothing that makes sense. Why was big on talking about having two or more witnesses for something big part of the Jewish life in Tradition? So I think he ended to try and have teaching be done in front of a few more maybe for the reasons like that. It's so they can compare notes. Remind each other one remembers one piece and all I remember is another few small groups about them. Put the gospel was taught them how to teach other people for. The gospel is a ped couple things to wrap up with head. Bussa remind me to talk by Disney says, he looks at America today in the situation situation was very dark. Can it be more, dog? Not but read the Bible things in X or lead up to Gen X things. Go get more and more dark, one of those. It believes that it reaches a certain point, High School return for the church at really bad piece, the tribulation 7 years, that's about in Revelation, but I'm already or not, you don't know. I was talking to the pastor in Pennsylvania, or sometime back. He just came out and said that he thought that the return of Christ.

Well, that was going to happen in association with one of the Jewish feasts. I Am speech topics, I think it was. And so we got into a discussion. Well, how soon? Someone so it will be something. I do remember, doesn't matter, they were saying will next year 2023 at that time in this Feast, I think it speaks of trumpets that it's always the same old certain time for dinner September 2023. This past year was this past week that his calculations calculations wrong told us to avoid embarrassment like that by not getting into the business of trying to let her States because, you know, we talk for a moment. The guy may have been through it, turns out, he wasn't correct, but at that time we didn't know it. And we thought well if he's right the time of short, we got a cup. We have like changing discussions with people who care about, their haven't found the time to have you. So we should wait. We should have that realization everyday. We wake up everyday. God gives us another day. We should wake up and say, well, okay, board might return tomorrow to Spokes that I care about that. I haven't talked with them about this and I should big time. I should make it a priority to be focused in that way to find the time to have that conversation with those feet. And again whether you're the youngest person to you today or whether you're not so young, everyone of us that is on us, that's our purpose. That's our mission. Whether we try to start it or put it out of her mind or or think about other things because other things seem more pressing his purpose

Different ways to be right for that purpose with someone else. I not be clear yet through that certain person is that you're right for her to bring this message. If you just have to trust that God, created you for that purpose for someone else. But needs to hear this message when an overtime, I'll share one more quick thing. So professor says an application for us, for Christmas is a man who's been a pastor at a church for years, which is a seminary, 30 sang breach of us rode with way we Groves Christian is by doing this work that Christ has given us to do and if we don't do the work then we're not going to grow these pointy Maiden. So he talks about a scale, I'm going to call it the same to you hail from 1 to 10, where one means. You just became a born-again person you just experienced that solvation debating, I call you. Lady Kristen you're just starting out on the Christian walk that's that's one of them. When in the dangerous places taking this message, message people feeding people other countries that going to cost so many Christians. One person said well if we're not trying to are other people as disciples and we won't ever get above being a two or three on its face my own experience. Heard this in context of school, for whatever, but you don't really know something until you try to teach it to somebody else. Don't know. It is fully as you as you should know it, you may not even realize how low the pieces are there that you don't understand fully until you start trying to explain it. Somebody else or trying to teach you in but he said through the process and he's engaged in trying to disciple a few men and he said in the process of teaching them how to pray. Take me to the details about know, what is it like to pray? How do you pray people about it ways to approach? You going through all that and giving him an example, doing all of that stuff. You said his prayer life but much better, but he was getting on living testimony. That we get better, we grow in our face. If we undertake this work with price of giving us to do, you take that work up and we're not going to group. I won't get in talking about rewards, but remember the peace in the Bible, where the words that we hope to hear, when we get to see the Lord face to face his words. You know, well done my good and faithful servant though, I don't think so much that he was talking about. Well, done in the sensor fill bill. You found a way to do not personally, I'm your wife and you did that and it was a struggle for you but you found a way to help us. You found a way to stop that. So well done, I don't think that's as much what he means is if you were to say Well done until you do know, it was a little bit awkward at first, you took my message to people. In Dallas Creek, you took my message. People in Nickelsville Virginia. You took my message through people in West Africa, you helped to teach other people and whether I was the best feature of the song, Not one of the people that I teach me be the best disciple teachers that there ever will be. So it's not a matter what but we do to matter of just being faithful and trust God with blue spruce, thank you. But you saw fit to give us a piece of the work of reconciliation for the world. We're humbled and stagger by that responsibility, but we know that you promised to help us know that you promised to spirit with us. Hope it's so let us be bold to take that work up, Lord, let us not shy away from a steak that you children and young people families. Ugly people everybody that we have in our sphere of influence us, take it to them in days in the weeks to come begin to be intentional about preparing them to. You ready to go ahead and prepare others to prepare others for the Cure. What are free? All of this food? Serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.