TOPIC: YOU SHALL KNOW WHEN IT’S TIME
THE KEYS • Sermon • Submitted
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· 22 viewsThey did not know Jesus fully in the past; we do not fully know him now, but we will.
Notes
Transcript
For Lent we are encouraging something new. Instead of taking anything out of your diet or time; We are asking you to add something- meeting with God 7 times a day. No matter how long or short. Here are some suggestions.
LET ME MAKE SOME SUGGESTIONS TO MEET GOD SEVEN TIMES A DAY.
When you wake up
Before you go to bed
Before you eat
Before you let someone hurt or anger you
When something weighs heaven on your heart
When you have to make an important decision
When you feel God’s presence.
Responsive Reading: Jer. 31:31-34
Some say you were John the Baptist…
Intro:
It is ok to have doubts.
We doubt our faith; we doubt God loves us; we doubt there is a God; we doubt people love us, we doubt we will ever change or get out of a situation; we doubt we will go to heaven.
It’s okay not to know everything.
No one knows everything. We know in part; we prophecy in part. You don’t have to see it all before you step out in faith. You don’t have to know the whole bible before you testify to God’s goodness.
Your doubts will turn into confidence.
I cannot tell you how many times, I’ve doubted my faith. Then, God’s grace would come, the skies opened, the enemy was defeated, angels came and ministers and Jesus forgave me for doubting him.
Like Job, I know my redeemer lives.
I know to be abased and I know how to abound
We know that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and who are called according to his purpose.
Jesus is a mystery. How can someone be a divine being in a human form?
It was time to be clear about Jesus’ identity and assignment.
After this, he taught, Matt. 16:21
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
The majority of people who heard about Jesus missed who he is.
The scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees miss it ( what did they call Jesus?)
JESUS’ true identity. They thought he was a false prophet, drunkard and who worked for the Devil.
He casts out demons by the spirit of beelzebul…
Show us a sign…
Even the devil missed it. If Satan and his army knew Jesus, they would have found another way to stop him. Paul said,
1 Cor. 2:8 “None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
There was much confusion about Jesus…
In general people in Palestine thought he was a prophet.
Some say you are John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
End-time prophets
This may be due to Herod’s predicament. John the bap. Matt. 14:2 “ After he beheaded John for rebuking him for adultery. He became paranoid. “And he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”” Matt. 14:2.
Some said Elijah: Elijah was predicted to return. Mal. 4:5 matt 17:10
The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
Elijah is the forerunner of Messiah. He must come and prepare the way for the Day of the Lord.
Jeremiah: was the weeping prophet. His ministry was full of sorrow. He prophesied the death of children By Herod when Christ was born.
Jeremiah 31:15 (NIV)
This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
While in this world, Jesus was a man of sorrow.
Jeremiah condemned the temple and the priests, prophets and kings for their idolatry. God’s word came through Jeremiah. Zedekiah was the last king before Judah’s fall.
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord.
Many did not identify Jesus with a particular prophet. They acknowledged him as one of the prophets who returned from the past.
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
4 thousand years before Christ Moses prophesied of Israel’s hope. He told of a Messiah like himself.
Deut. 18:15-16 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
The people held Jesus in high regard.
He brought Justice: He could be john
He brought Expectation; he could be Elijah
He brought Judgment: He could be Jeremiah
No one knew for sure.
The problem with our faith today is we have a superficial knowledge of Jesus.
Our believe system is the result of all the wars and doctrines and creeds that have already been written.
In other words, Jesus has a point of contact with all of these popular understandings of him; each of these public statements on Jesus shows an awareness of some aspect of Jesus’ ministry and character. Nevertheless, they all operate at the surface and represent a failure to discern the depth and fullness of Jesus’ identity.” Ibid.
People who know only part of Jesus true identity find it easy to misunderstand his ministry:
After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
People who know only part of Jesus misunderstand his church, To be called a christian was a negative statement.
(social and not spiritual- do not care about the power of the Spirit)Jesus’ query is to provoke deeper understanding of his true identity
God is tearing down old notions of Christian Faith.
It is not that young people and long standing church goers no longer believe in God; they no longer believe in the approach of religion over the last 200 years. Since the last great revivals, people no longer see God’s hand at work on a large scale. Instead, they see empty promises and perfunctory religious practices. Since Jesus is the head of the church and the church represents him. Most do not feel the need to know Jesus better.
The world thinks Christians are crazy people.
Polytheistic-3 gods: No, we believe in the Trinity… God on the Throne, on the Cross and in our hearts
Christians are Ignorant- turned over their reason: we are not rational, nor cerebral, or analytical… we turned everything over to nonsense. No. As the wind blows where is wills…
Hypocritical- worldly, we say one thing and do another. No. We are all in the process…. The old nature is still dying
They are caught in the Ecstatic- irrational exuberance ; all that noise, and ecstatic behavior…. There is a reason why I shout. (Hold my mule)
The proper response to Jesus true identity is CONFESSION.
I am not talking about words; I am talking about a belief in him you cannot deny. You need not take your confession anywhere; no, let the confession take you everywhere.
YOU WILL KNOW WHEN ITS TIME TO KNOW.
Hosea 6:3 (KJV)
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; And he shall come unto us as the rain, As the latter and former rain unto the earth.
These are tough times, but God has not abandoned you.
You have doubts and fears, but you shall know all you need to know and when you need to know it. When it’s time, there will be streams in the desert, water will come from the rock, manna will fall in the wilderness, you will find money in the fish’s mouth...
I have a confidence, you will answer the question of who Jesus is for yourself just as Peter answered.
In the meantime, there are certain things you should know.
Belief in the Godhead: Jesus is one with the Father; The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus Christ.
Walking by faith- unseen powers… We are surrounded by horses and chariots of fire. Angels stand in the ready for our salvation. The Holy Spirit works without every being seen, but by those who know Him.
We are Free- like David who danced- where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
We are Sanctified - and in joy-
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
One day, we will know the Lord fully.
Jer. 31: 31-34 ““The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with my people. It will not be like the covenant I made with Israel’s ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them.
This is the covenant I will make with the people after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.””
Hab. 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
Every valley shall be exalted; every mountain will be brought low; the crooked shall be made straight; the rough place made smooth, the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
We will see him face to face.