Death and Life

Intro:

This morning I had intended to begin a new series called Types and Shadows. The Lord directed me to something different this week. I have not been able to get away from the word shared last week by our guest. I spent some time with the Lord this week to seek to understand His word to us.

(Pray)

I want to remind and reinforce that correction and instruction from the Lord is a blessing and should be treasured. We want His correction in our lives. It again is a reminder that we belong to Him. What I will share with you today is not to bring condemnation, but to illuminate what I believe the Spirit of God further revealed to me about what was shared this past week in service.

I want to be clear about this message. I believe there are people here who are faithfully serving Jesus with their whole heart. Jesus see’s and knows your works. What the Lord revealed to me during the Altar last week was that there were many who were taking the sacrifice, generosity, and victories of others as their own. This is a critical error for any believer.

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Submit:

We must understand today that the life of a believer is both personal and corporate.

It is personal in that you must call upon the name of the Lord for yourself Romans 10:13 “For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

Its personal because Surrender is your choice James 4:7-10 “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

You are to work out your salvation with fear and trembling Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;”.

It is corporate in that we are a body fitly joined together. Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4:1-6 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Ephesians 4:7-11 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,”

Ephesians 4:12-18 “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts:”

Ephesians 4:19-24 “who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

Ephesians 4:25-32 “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

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Apply:

Life in Christ has both personal and corporate context, but we must understand that we cannot substitute corporate context for personal.

What do I mean by this?

We cant take on someone else’s victories or breakthroughs as our own. We must develop our own personal history with God.

We 100% should celebrate and be encouraged or challenged by the victories and breakthroughs of others, but we can’t act as though their victory or breakthrough is our victory and breakthrough. For example:

It’s easy to celebrate the large financial gift to a ministry, but did I participate in the giving? *Understand that it is not about equal giving but equal sacrifice.

It’s easy to celebrate the numbers of families served through a food distribution, but did I serve the families?

It’s easy to celebrate the growth of the next generation, but are you investing in their growth?

Celebrating what God is doing is good, but participating in what God is doing is better.

The word that was given to us by the missionary centered around being lukewarm. As I studied it out I want to share with you what I learned.

Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22.

Turn to Revelation 3:14-16 ““And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

We may be saved by grace through faith and not of works, but we are expected to work for the Lord. Jesus the Amen, the faithful and true witness is evaluating the works of the Laodiceans. He says I know your works.

He Classifies their works as Lukewarm, and His reaction to Lukewarm is clear. I will vomit it out of My mouth. This represents something Christ clearly rejects. Jesus rejects a divided heart.

The Church at Laodicea was being corrected for a divided heart. What was the divided heart rooted in? Self-sufficiency. Revelation 3:17.

Revelation 3:17, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—”

The Laodicean is blind to God at work in his life and in the lives of others. Why? Because he is busy doing something else.

The Laodicean is not lazy; he is instead distracted with busyness, with this world, with getting ahead in life, with everything else rather than what he should be involved in—the things of God. The Laodicean pretends to be righteous, building a facade externally. All of this leads to the pretense that they really don’t need God.

The rebuke of the Lord is that this same person who feels that they have the need of nothing is actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. He then gives His counsel: Revelation 3:18.

Revelation 3:18, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

Jesus is advising for us to obtain spiritual riches produced through trials. These trials are avoided by the lukewarm. Richness in the kingdom of God is not calculated by material wealth. He desires for us to be rich in mercy, rich in love, rich in wisdom and understanding.

Being clothed with the white garments of holiness stand in stark contrast to the nakedness of self righteousness.

Revelation 3:19-22, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3:19-22. When we become lukewarm we are out of fellowship with Him. Notice that He is standing at a door knocking. It means the door is closed. He says If anyone hears my voice. This means that we may not be listening to what He is saying. This presents a crossroad. If we open the door we enter into relationship and fellowship. If we don’t we get vomited from His mouth.

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Closing:

If we desire relationship and fellowship how do we then be zealous (showing great energy or enthusiasm) and repent? Turn to Romans 12.

1. Become a Living Sacrifice. Romans 12:1-2.

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

We are to live in service to the Lord. This will require us to renew our minds. To serve the Lord effectively we must first understand His desires. This begins with reading and obeying the word of God.

2. Serve God with Spiritual Gifts. Romans 12:3-8.

Romans 12:3-8 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

We each have a part to play in His purpose. We need to engage and simply do it.

3. Behave Like a Christian. Romans 12:9-21.

Romans 12:9-21 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Today the word of God is our Eye Salve. It helps us to see clearly. My prayer for this message is that each of us would reflect and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us. What is He revealing to you? Are there areas that you have become lukewarm and need to repent and turn back to him. Have you become self sufficient? Whatever it may be I encourage you to humble yourself before Him.

Listen to His instruction and make the needed changes.

Pray over the people.