The Sufficient Words of Christ

I knew a girl in college that claimed to be gay, and love Jesus. She said that her told her it was fine. Because her Bible didn’t have any of the verses in it that were considered sexist or homophobic. Now I have no clue if that’s true or if maybe she just hadn’t read those parts, but either way, that’s what she said.

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The other day I saw a quote online from a woman who is an ordained minister in a certain denomination who said that she was proud of the fact that she had previously gotten 2 abortions because she believed that “the love of Christ lead her to have those abortions.” She went on to say in a “sermon” that if Christ was alive today (always a wild thing to hear) and giving the sermon on the mount, she fully believes he would have included “blessed are those who get abortions because the will feel loved”

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And a few months back I was watching a video online posted by a man in Canada who’s work I really enjoy, he’s a doctorate student in Biblical manuscript studies and always has such interesting historical context to add with scripture, but he was in a group discussion about the scriptures with a few other guys and they all claim different denominations, but the discussion hinged on a very interesting idea that I can honestly say had never heard before, which now that I’ve learned about it, I’ve actually caught a few people bringing it up. The concept is this: Christ shared the way in which we can be saved, and then Paul came after and wrote a bunch of stuff that contradicts or misinterprets the words of Christ and Paul took over the Christian faith and changed it from what Christ has intended.

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So, what are we going to talk about this morning? We are going to look at scripture and just focus on what exactly it is that Christ says to His followers.

In the teen class we’ve touched on in Acts that the people of the first century would hear the gospel and know that it was true and they would seek to be saved, so then, if it was sufficient for them, I believe it is sufficient for us as well.

Now, real quick what does the word sufficient mean? The dictionary defines sufficient as:

Sufficient: enough to meet the needs of a situation or a proposed end

So can we find, in the “words of Christ”, sufficient instruction for our salvation?

(I want to take this time and acknowledge that YES, all scripture is the divinely inspired LIVING WORD of God and Christ IS THE LIVING WORD.

As Pauls 2nd letter to Timothy says:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

But again, some people say that is Paul’s word, not Christ so, we are going to look at the quoted words of Christ in the New Testament and see if we can find a sufficient path to salvation.

First on our path to growing closer to God and seeking salvation we have to do what?

Believe

What does Christ have to say about what we should Believe?

John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ””

John 11:25–26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?””

John 12:44–46 “And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

John 14:1 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

Ok, great, we need to believe in Jesus. Then what? What do I need to do once I believe in Christ and His words?

Confess

You have to confess that you believe in Christ, but what does that look like according to Christ? We’ve got 2 places in Matthew that I think show a full picture.

Matthew 10:26-33

Matthew 10:26–33 ““So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 16:15-18

Matthew 16:15–18 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

We must confess Him before men or He will not confess us before the Father, and what are we to confess? That He is the Christ, what does that mean? Messiah, Son of the Living God.

Well now we know that Christ wants us to believe in Him, and that we should confess that belief openly in our lives to others.

But what else do we have to do? What else has to change in our lives in order to reach a home in heaven with Him for eternity?

Repent

Now this is a hot one in today’s world. People genuinely believe that it is possible to “accept Christ as your savior” and just continue living however you want because “He was perfect so I don’t have to be”

Turn over to Matthew Chapter 4. Matthew 4 is the account of Christ being tempted in the desert by Satan after fasting for 40 days and nights following His baptism by John the Baptist.

He is tempted, He overcomes temptation through quoting scripture.

Then what do we see?

Starting in verse 12, your bible might have a heading that even calls this section “Jesus Begins His Ministry” or something to that affect.

Matthew 4:12–17

“Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

Quite literally the very first concept that Christ begins to preach to the world, before He called the first disciple, was that repentance was necessary.

And we can move forward to Luke 13:1–5 , and see where some Jews are asking Christ about some other Jews whose deaths were ordered by Pilate and how bad of a death it must have been, they’re asking Christ about why this happened or what He thinks about it, and what does He say?

Luke 13:1-5

“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.””

Believe, Confess, Repent…

Y’all wanna take a wild guess where we’re going next?

Be Baptized

Again, 2 places are going to paint this picture as clear as anything ever can be. If you can read these accounts of Christ and come away believing that baptism is not something Christ says is necessary, then I don’t know what to tell you.

John 3:1-21

We’re seeing here the story of Nicodemus, who we see is a ruler of the Jews, most modern Bible scholars will say that title in Greek means that most likely he was a member of the Sanhedron, so pretty near the top of the Jewish religion. He comes to Christ, and this is what he is told.

John 3:1–21 “Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””

Now again, some might say that being born again of water and of spirit isn’t exactly clear, maybe is just a metaphor of Christ.

Ok, turn to Mark 16:15–16 , the great commission by Christ to the eleven. What does it say?

Mark 16:15-16

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

There you go, the words of the Lord Himself.

Now, once you believe, confess, repent, are baptized, is that it? Are you just eternally square no matter what?

Nope, we’ve got two more points to make and both are absolutely necessary.

Be Faithful Until Death

Turn back over to Matthew 24:3–14 , we see Christ on the Mt. of Olives telling His followers about what will happen before He returns.

Matthew 24:3-14

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

And again Jesus makes this same point in Mark 8:34–38,

Mark 8:34-38

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.””

Now I said we had two more points to make, but we can’t really finish this one without introducing the next one. If we truely want to live Faithfully until death as the savior did, then we have to have:

Love

In John 13:31-35, we see that Judas has just left the last supper to go and betray Christ, and scripture says

John 13:31–35

“When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

This commandment was not given on a sunny afternoon, it was not given to the 5,000 with their miraculous meal, it was given to eleven confused men, who loved Christ, and could not begin to comprehend what was about to take place, and the gravity of the whole ordeal, they would not yet understand why everything that was about to happen was happening. And it was all, because of Love.

The kind of Love that ensures that you remain faithful unto death.

Finally turn in your Bibles to Luke 23:32–46 , there is no greater example for us, the kind of Love we are to have, and what kind of effect that Love can have on our lives and actions, than this.

Luke 23:32-46

“Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.”

The perfect Son of God died for you and for me.

He didn’t have to, He wanted to, because of the Love He has for all of us.

This morning if you have need to accept the salvation that only comes to us through Christ, as shown to us by His words, we ask that you make your needs known and come while together we stand and sing.