07-08-2023 - Glass & Mirrors

Glass & Mirrors

Intro:

Q. Why did the mirror quit its job?

A. Because it was framed.

Preface the next one w/ mentioning that I am partly bald...

Q. What did the bald man say to himself in the mirror?

A. What do we have hair?

Q. What did llama see in the mirror?

A. A spitting Image.

1 liner: I am rather ashamed to say I haven’t cleaned my mirror in years. It reflects badly on me.

1 liner: I held up my clock to a mirror. It was time for reflection.

1 liner: When the interviewer asked, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Apparently, “In the mirror” wasn’t the right answer.

Link: Most of us love jokes and some of us like puns… But as you can tell, were going to talk about mirrors and glass today. Turn with me if you would in your Bibles to James 1:23-35 if you would please.

God’s word is like a Mirror - James 1:23-25 “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

1st we see that God’s Word is like a mirror, we should reflect it

2nd we see that God’s Mirror reveals our true selves. If we love God, we won’t like what is revealed, if what revealed is sinful. We should want to clean it up. It is a mirror that helps us examine ourselves (vv. 23–25) and cleanse our lives. We must do the Word of God, not just read it or study it; the blessing is in the doing. - Wiersbe, Warren W.. With the Word (Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Handbook) (p. 1459). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Cleaned up for the purpose of having our relationship with God right

Cleaned up so others can see a difference in our lives, to point them to Him

Cleaned up, this is the most important reason, to bring glory to God in all we do and say

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Our lives should be like a Mirror, reflecting Christ. We don’t produce light in and of ourselves, just like the moon or a mirror, we only reflect what is shinning on or through us.

In the O.T.:

They could only reflect the glory of God

Today:

We are to reflect the light, the son of God but also

The H.S. is living and alive in us, he shines out of us.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord who is the Spirit makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image. - NLT

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Philippians 2:15 “That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

As we look into God’s Word and see God’s Son, the Spirit transforms us into the very image of God. - Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1, 640.

What causes us to shine? - The TRINITY does, as in all three parts of the Godhead do, lets break this down:

God - B/C He sent the Son - 1 John 4:14 “...the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”

Jesus - B/C He willing became our unrighteousness and replaced it with His righteousness - 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

H.S. - B/C of what He does in and through us, giving us our Salvation & Sealing it in us, helping us to walk in the ways of God - Ephesians 1:13 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,”

“The Seal”

Comes from the Greek word sphragizo (Sfrag-id-zo), meaning to stamp for security or preservation, seal up.

The sealing also implies ownership. When the job is done, its sealed, nothing more can be added or subtracted and its owned by God, you are owned by God.

What causes us to not shine? - Dirty Glass.

What causes us to not reflect? - Dirty Mirror.

A loss of salvation? NO, b/c your sealed with the H.S. Your sin is as far as the east is from the west.

Sin. It doesn’t change you into an unsealed being, but rather it changes your relationship status as someone needing to make amends with your Father. - 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Unsaved: ABC

Closing Song: Shine Jesus Shine Verse: 3