New year New hope 2023
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Let us Pray’
Lord Holy Father thank you for being here with us today thank you for allowing us to be here and fellowship and learn from your word. Lord open our hearts this morning to receive your word, cleanse our hearts from anything that would keep us from seeing you, Oh Lord be with all the ministers of all the churches around the world Let your Glory be made known Amen
Have New Hopes in a new year by Starting the Year off Right
What would you like to accomplish this year?
Maybe loose some weight?
Maybe gain some?
Maybe get a better Job
Maybe to quit drinking Dr. Peppers
Get that blood pressure under control
Maybe its to finally get around to fixing up that old barn
What would you like to accomplish this year
First if you are like many of Americans you may have already had a new years resolution
and by now its only a memory
Today i want to talk with you about some resolutions that go far beyond the physical and deep into the Spiritual nature that will overflow and positively have overwhelming affects on your day to day life. Thus effecting your physical nature
Johnathan Edwards A great theologian during the Puritan age know as the last great Puritan . He was a man that focused on the heart of God. Edwards did many great things he in his preaching led to the first great awakening it swarmed through the united states like wildfire and eventually spread all over Europe as well. It was His dedication to the particular call of The People of God that drove so many to the throne of Christ.
Edwards preached on love He preached of Grace He preached on Justification by faith alone. But it was His particular call His personal call of Holiness that stretched from his own heart and poured out into the pulpit week after week that drove that fire to spread far and wide.
Edwards said the problem with the world is that God is good....... and we are not. This is why they hate him So.
He was in-tune with his own personal short comings and even as a young man sought to resolve them for when Edwards Read the Words of our dear Lord Jesus saying :
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
This tore Edwards heart out as he saw his own sin as the worst amoungst the whole of the earth
one scripture that Edwards drove home and often in the pulpit but also in his many daily journals was:
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
He was asked Why do you preach so much on the Holiness of God and why we ought to be Holy,
Edwards Responded because every week you people forget
Edwards had 70 Resolutions that he reminded himself of daily he started writing his resolutions when he was just a teen, Though through his personal journals we know that Edwards struggled like the rest of us wrestling with Sin His resolutions and his dedication to chase after the heart of God was evident to all those around him and would later write of Him and His impact on the Kingdom
Just a few of Edwards Resolutions
3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.
4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.
5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.
7. Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
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As We Look on to a new year it had me reflecting on my own life my own journey and As i sat down to write for the first time in a long time I found myself writing a set of resolutions. As the New year starts so does my semester. Ive been thinking allot about golf balls pebbles and sand lately and what needs to Go that God and family may grow. Ill have to discipline myself make the most of my time, ill have to be careful to spend time with my family. So I began to reflect and I wrote my own resolutions
I wrote
That I may desire and act to become an better follower of Christ
That i may desire and act to be a better example of a life led by God
That I may desire and act to become a better preacher, to become more effective in not only communication of the knowledge of the Word but to the application and the heart of the Word
That i may desire and act to a better Shepherd Through a deeper devotion unto God that he may equip me with the leadership abilities to lead His people in such a dark time
That I would be a better Husband and father , son ,brother
That His light would shine through me and that i would share the Gospel with more people For His Glory
As i wrote these i reflected back upon them,
now remember these are personal I am sharing with you some of my own perceived weakness. But i do so because I want the Lord to use it to motivate you.
To look inward to see your weakness where you may be slacking , Where there is room for you to grow in your knowledge service and relationship with God and others
Each one of us should desire to please our father more each day
We should have a heart like David a man after Gods own hart this is the heart that i see in Edwards This is the heart in which i hope God sees in me, this should be your very desire
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NKJV)
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
jesus repeats this in the book of Matthew
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
It must be pretty important God himself through His son is telling us what he wants from us To Love him with all of our heart with all of out soul and all of your mind
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Oh How I pray and Hope to hear these words
You see every professing believer shall hear one of two statements from the lord Well Done my good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord or they will hear
Matthew 7:21–27 (NKJV)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Oh my precious brethren how I want you to hear well done my good and faithful servant and not depart from me
So hear my words this day hear the words of Christ and do them for those who do not act will not hear what they expect to hear but the dreadful depart from me I never knew you
lets look at Good and faithful servant
in 3 points
1. Good Well to hear good we must be good how can we be good?
The bible is clear that no one is good but God in heaven that all men have fallen short of his glory all are guilty none are good no not one
So how can we hear good
WE must place our trust solely in Christ clothed immersed in Him and him in us
We have spoken quite a bit about abiding this is what we are talking about that the old person dye to their sin that it is no longer them that live but christ that lives in them
That they strive to walk in favor of God not of this world that they are set apart by the renewing of their minds they no longer think and act as they once did but are grounded and led by the Scriptures and the holy spirit . being a light a beacon of hope to all those around them carrying the torch of Christ
this is the pursuit of God and his holiness that we sacrifice our lives for the life he came to give the very thing Edwards is talking about
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.
this is why this scripture was so close to Edwards life and should be close to all of our lives
2. Faithful
Good and faithful servant
What is faithfulness how can we be faithful?
We let nothing replace God as top priority in our lives Nothing
Think about your spouse if something was more important other than God how would they feel
Or you if something was more important to you
To be faithful we cannot build up idols
Not people
Governments
Money
Hobbies
Sports
Possessions
Goofballs pebbles sand
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.
WE are to be faithful for God has been faithful
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—
This is the promise in john 3 :16
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
He fulfilled his promise
The bible says let you yeses be yeses and your no’s no
What you say you will do being faithful also means fulfilling your promises before God and man
Butch
3.Servant
good and faithful servant
Servant
Some translations use the word slave
you see we are slaves to sin and death and hell or we are slaves and willing servants to christ with life eternal joy and peace
There is no middle ground here
you are in the family or you are out
John 12:26
John 12:26
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Remember
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
WE do all this in the most humble manner not that we can earn Gods grace but that it was freely given though we did not deserve it
“So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’ ”
So what will be your new years resolution ?
To loose weight
To stop cigarettes
to have a more fulfilling marriage
to be nicer
all these things in them self are great and you may be able to commit to one of them but all its impossible
For with men these things are impossible but with God all things are possible
what will it be
...............or.......
do you despritly want to hear the words well done my good and faithful servant
If so we must make the pursuit of God and His holiness a priority in life
Its the golf balls of all golf balls Golf balls
Seek first the kingdom of God and all these thing you are worried about will be added to you
WE must be faithful to His word to our word we must be faithful in not placing other things at the top of our prioritetes that we would not be adulterers of God
To be called servant we must be willing to serve God and his people