A Condition of the Heart
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Luke 2 verses again.
This is the starting point that has led us on a bit of a tangent as we address the purpose of the gifts God has given us by His grace.
We are working through chapter and verse, but this verse has caused us to branch off a bit to fully address what the Lord would like us to understand.
Click Luke
When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Focus on the word Grace.
Last week was a bit of an introduction
Grace in the Greek is Charis.
Verse 40, the grace (charis) of God was upon Jesus.
This root word is where we get the words charima and eucharistos.
Last week we also looked at Romans 12
In this passage, Paul uses both the words Charis and Charisma.
Click Romans 12
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts (Charisma), according to the grace (Charis) given to each of us.
Charis is grace.
The Lord pour out His grace upon us.
Click #1
Charisma, is the working of grace or the gifts of grace.
Spiritual giftings.
The Lord equips His people with gifts.
We affirm the spiritual gifts here at MZR.
We believe that God has equipped us to be a priesthood of believers, walking in grace and using our unique giftings for His glory.
The purposes of the gifts is to unify and build up the body.
And to bring glory to our Savior.
In this context falls all of the purpose of the Spiritual gifts.
They may be used to draw others to Salvation.
They may be used to reveal truth to those who doubt.
They may be used to draw one another together.
Click #2 and #3
2. The focus of the gifts must be upon the source.
3. Focus on the Giver not the gift.
If the focus of gifts is the use or display of gifts, we enter the place of error.
This is where we can get distracted.
This is why I wanted define the purpose of the Spiritual gifts.
Turn to Matthew 7
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Scary verses.
First of all, Jesus is not talking about people who are humble seeking to honor the Name of Jesus.
We don’t need to fear all of the sudden falling out of the grace of God.
Click #4
4. As we seek to follow Him, He sustains, protect and equips us to follow.
So Jesus is not talking about those who humbly follow His lead.
What is the focus of those who Jesus is talking about?
They are focused on all of the stuff that they have been doing.
They are focused on the miraculous things that they perfomed.
Click #5
5. Matthew 7:15-23: Faith became a point of pride for those Jesus confronts.
The faith of those in this verse was a mechanism they were using to bring glory to themselves.
The spiritual gifts served as a proof in their eyes that they have earned Salvation.
Why does Jesus say depart from me, you who practice lawlessness?
What was the lawlessness they practiced?
Jesus answers in verses 24-29
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
First of all did the one building upon the Rock of Salvation avoid getting rained on?
No
We will get rained on at times.
This is a sermon for another time.
The lesson is that even in the rain, we must be firmly planted upon the only source that can help us overcome the rain.
Click #6 and #7
6. Jesus gives us the perameters of our faith.
7. It is based solely upon Him and what He has done to save us.
The one who says, sure I know what I should be doing.
I know that building upon a rock would be the better option.
But I am going to do it my own way.
I am going to rely on what I can do.
I am going to trust in all of the works that I perform to aid me when the rains fall.
Jesus uses this parable to illustrate the truth of what He says about those who come to Him claiming to have done all of these great things.
They say Lord, Lord, look at this marvelous house we built upon the sand using all of our own knowledge.
Lord, Lord we knew it would have been better to build upon the Rock, but at least we did it in your Name.
Jesus confronts them saying, depart I never knew you.
Depart from me because you have twisted the reverence of my Name to bring about your own will.
According to your own plans and design.
The lesson is that those Jesus addressed is that He does not know they because they refused to conform to His will.
They were using the Name of the Lord and conforming it to the image that glorifies the self.
This is the danger of being distracted by those who elevate the Spiritual gifts to make their own name great.
Or to earn Salvation through works.
Click #8 and #9
8. Salvation is a gift of God to be received in faith.
9. It is a condition of the heart, not external appearances.
Close with the story of Jodie, not knowing if she was saved.
This is my concern if we place too much emphasis on outward appearances.
It can cause us to doubt the power, authority and victory of Jesus.
Click #10 and #11
10. We do not need to fear, God knows our heart.
He knows the struggle we face as humans because He walked with us.
We don’t need to fear all of the sudden getting zapped.
11. God meets us with grace.
Benediction: Ephesians 2:4-10
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
