Does It Match

Praise and Worship:

Offering and Prayer:

Monthly Theme: The Gospel Gives Us Alignment

Life Application: Let your conduct match your confession.

Scripture:

Matthew 16:21–23 NIV

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. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Philippians 1:27 NIV

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel

Introduction: Does it Match

Have you ever watched a video where the sound was just a little bit off?

The person on the screen is talking, but their mouth moves before you hear the words. Or you hear the words, and then their mouth moves. Sometimes it's only off by a second, but once you notice it, it's hard to pay attention to anything else.

You're watching their mouth instead of listening to what they're saying because you know something isn't right.

What you're hearing doesn't match what you're seeing.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with the picture. There's nothing necessarily wrong with the sound. The problem is that the two aren't in sync.

And I wonder if that's sometimes what people experience when they encounter Christians.

They hear us say we love Jesus. They hear us say Jesus changed our lives. They hear us talk about grace. They hear us talk about forgiveness. They hear us talk about loving people. They hear us sing about how good God is.

But then they watch us.

And sometimes what they're seeing doesn't match what they're hearing.

Paul writes in Philippians 1:27, “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.”

Paul is talking to people who already believe the Gospel. He's not telling them how to become Christians. He's telling them how people who have received the Good News ought to live because of the Good News.

Paul is essentially saying:

Make sure the audio matches the video.

Make sure what people hear you confess matches what they see you live.

Let your conduct match your confession.

That's what we're going to talk about this month: How The Gospel Gives Us Alignment.

And I want to establish something from the beginning.

We don't align ourselves with God to earn the Gospel. We align ourselves with God because we've received the Gospel.

Jesus saved us by grace.

We didn't earn it.

We couldn't purchase it.

We couldn't behave well enough to deserve it.

But when the Good News gets inside of us, it should eventually change something about us.

The Gospel isn't just Good News I believe. It's Good News that changes the way I live.

So throughout this message, I want us to keep asking one simple question:

Does it match?

Does the way I live match what I say I believe?

Does my attitude match?

Does my treatment of people match?

Does my private life match?

Does my Monday match my Sunday?

Does what people see from me match what they hear from me about Jesus?

Title, Prayer:

Does It Match

APPLICATION — WHEN WHAT THEY HEAR AND WHAT THEY SEE ARE OUT OF SYNC

Here's what's interesting about watching something that's out of sync.

Everything can technically still be functioning.

The video is playing. The sound is working. You can understand what's happening.

But something isn't right.

And that's what makes spiritual misalignment dangerous.

You can still function while you're out of sync.

You can still come to church.

You can still know Scripture.

You can still sing the songs.

You can still say “Amen.”

You can still tell people you're a Christian.

You can know all the right Christian language and still have areas where what you're saying and what you're living have gotten out of sync.

We say, “God is in control,” but anxiety controls every decision.

We say, “God forgave me,” but we refuse to forgive somebody else.

We say, “I love people,” but tear people down with our words.

We say, “Jesus is Lord,” but when Jesus challenges something we want to do, suddenly we want the final vote.

We say, “I trust God,” but the moment we can't see what He's doing, we stop trusting.

The audio says one thing.

The video says something else.

And if we live with the disconnect long enough, we can become very good at explaining it.

“Well, that's just how I am.”

“You don't know what they did to me.”

“Everybody does it.”

“It's not that serious.”

“God knows my heart.”

Yes.

God does know your heart. That's exactly why He's trying to deal with it.

Sometimes we spend more energy explaining why we're out of sync than allowing God to bring us back into sync.

So here's something I want you to remember:

Stop explaining the disconnect and let God bring your life back in sync.

But that raises another question.

Why does alignment matter so much?

Why can't I simply believe in Jesus and live however I want?

Why does God care whether my life is aligned with Him?

WHY DOES ALIGNMENT MATTER?

Matthew 16 gives us a powerful answer.

Jesus begins explaining to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem. He tells them He will suffer, He will be rejected, He will be killed, and He will be raised from the dead.

Peter hears that and essentially says:

“No, Jesus. That's not going to happen to You.”

Now don't miss what is happening.

Peter loves Jesus.

Peter isn't trying to hurt Jesus.

Peter isn't Jesus' enemy.

From Peter's perspective, he's trying to protect Jesus.

But Peter can only see the circumstances.

Jesus can see the purpose.

And Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's.”

That's strong.

Why would Jesus respond that strongly?

Because Peter was trying to redirect Jesus away from something the Father had already aligned Jesus toward.

Peter could see suffering.

Jesus could see salvation.

Peter could see rejection.

Jesus could see redemption.

Peter could see a cross.

Jesus knew resurrection was on the other side.

Peter was looking at what was immediately in front of them.

Jesus was aligned with the purpose of the Father.

And this is why alignment matters.

ALIGNMENT SUPERSEDES CIRCUMSTANCE

If I determine God's will only by my circumstances, I'll change direction every time my circumstances change.

If everything is going well, I'll say, “God must be in this.”

Then trouble comes and suddenly I'll say, “Maybe God isn't in this.”

A door closes: “Maybe I missed God.”

Somebody criticizes me: “Maybe I'm going the wrong way.”

It becomes difficult: “Maybe God doesn't want me doing this.”

But difficulty doesn't automatically mean you're going in the wrong direction.

Jesus was walking directly toward the Father's purpose and the road led toward a cross.

Sometimes staying aligned with God means walking through something you would rather avoid because God sees a purpose you cannot yet see.

That's what we learned last month under The Gospel Under Pressure.

Sometimes the prayer is:

“God, while I'm in it, do something in me.”

And now we're adding another prayer:

“God, while You're doing something in me, make sure I'm still going where You're leading me.”

Because alignment gives me a reference point greater than my circumstances.

SOMETIMES OTHER PEOPLE WON'T SEE WHAT GOD HAS SHOWN YOU

Peter didn't see it.

And Peter loved Jesus.

That's important because sometimes we assume that if somebody loves us, they will automatically understand everything God is doing in our lives.

Not necessarily.

Somebody can love you and still not understand what God is doing with you.

They may look at the road God has placed before you and say, “That doesn't make sense.”

They may look at your decision and say, “I wouldn't do that.”

They may look at your circumstances and say, “You need to turn around.”

That doesn't make them your enemy.

It may simply mean they cannot see what God has shown you.

Now we have to be careful here.

This doesn't mean every idea that pops into our heads came from God.

It doesn't mean we refuse to listen to anybody.

We test what we believe against Scripture.

We pray.

We seek wisdom.

We listen to godly counsel.

We remain humble enough to be corrected.

But after you've sought God, tested the direction against His Word, prayed, listened and discerned where God is leading you, somebody else's inability to see it doesn't automatically mean you missed God.

Sometimes the alignment is between you and God before anybody else understands it.

Jesus didn't change His direction because Peter couldn't see it.

And thank God He didn't.

Because think about this:

Peter wanted Jesus to avoid the very thing God was going to use to accomplish the Gospel.

If Jesus follows Peter's advice, there is no Calvary.

Without Calvary, there is no payment for sin.

Without His death, there is no resurrection.

Without the resurrection, there is no Good News.

The Gospel itself shows us why alignment matters.

Jesus remained aligned with the Father when the people closest to Him couldn't understand where that alignment was taking Him.

So sometimes you've got to say:

“You may not see it yet. But I know where God is leading me.”

Not arrogantly.

Not stubbornly.

Not without accountability.

But faithfully.

Because once God has made the path clear, I cannot require everybody else's understanding before I obey.

Point One: My Conduct Should Confirm My Confession

Now let's come back to Philippians 1:27.

Paul says, “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.”

The word worthy can make us uncomfortable because none of us is worthy of what Jesus did for us.

We cannot earn the cross.

We cannot earn grace.

We cannot perform our way into salvation.

That's why it's Good News.

Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

So Paul isn't saying:

“Live well enough to deserve what Jesus did.”

He's saying:

“Because of what Jesus has done, live in a way that reflects it.”

There's a major difference.

We don't live right so God will save us.

We seek to live differently because God has saved us.

We don't obey God so He will love us.

We obey because He already demonstrated His love toward us.

We don't pursue holiness to purchase grace.

We pursue holiness because we've experienced grace.

Grace comes first. Transformation follows.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:16, “You can identify them by their fruit.”

A tree is known by what it produces.

You can put a sign in front of an apple tree that says “orange tree,” but eventually the fruit will reveal what kind of tree you're dealing with.

The sign can say one thing.

The fruit tells the truth.

And that's where we have to ask:

Does it match?

If I say Jesus changed me, what fruit is my life producing?

If I say Jesus is Lord, is there evidence of His lordship in my decisions?

If I say I believe in grace, is there grace in the way I handle somebody else's failures?

If I say I believe in forgiveness, what happens when somebody hurts me?

If I say I trust God, what happens when my circumstances stop making sense?

This isn't about perfection.

Christians stumble.

Christians make mistakes.

Christians sometimes react before they pray.

Christians are still growing.

The issue isn't perfection.

The issue is direction.

When God shows me something that doesn't match Christ, am I willing to let Him change it?

Because what people hear from me about Jesus should increasingly match what they see from me because of Jesus.

Point Two: Alignment Means God’s Will Gets The Final Word

There is another moment in Jesus' life that shows us what true alignment looks like.

Gethsemane.

Jesus knows what's coming.

He knows about the cross.

He knows about the suffering.

And Jesus prays, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.”

Jesus doesn't pretend the road is easy.

He doesn't pretend He doesn't feel anything.

He doesn't deny the reality of what He's facing.

But then Jesus says:

“Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

That's alignment.

Alignment doesn't mean I don't have feelings about where God is taking me.

It means my feelings don't get the final vote.

I can be afraid and still obey.

I can be disappointed and still obey.

I can have questions and still obey.

I can wish the situation were different and still obey.

I can say, “God, I don't understand this,” and still follow Him.

Because alignment says:

“God's will gets the final word.”

And that's where Christianity becomes more than asking God to bless whatever we've already decided to do.

Sometimes our prayers sound like:

“God, here's my plan. Bless it.”

“God, here's where I'm going. Come with me.”

“God, here's what I want. Make it happen.”

But alignment changes the prayer.

Instead of asking:

“God, will You get aligned with my plans?”

I begin asking:

“God, how do I get my life aligned with Yours?”

Instead of:

“God, bless what I'm doing.”

It becomes:

“God, show me what You're doing so I can participate in it.”

That's alignment.

Jesus said in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”

Jesus lived aligned with the Father.

And because He stayed aligned, we have the Gospel.

That's why alignment matters.

Conclusion: Does It Match

So let's bring everything back to our question.

Does it match?

Does my life match the Gospel I say I believe?

Does my direction match where God is leading?

Does my conduct match my confession?

Does my attitude match?

Does my conversation match?

Does my private life match?

Does the way I treat people match?

Does my response when circumstances become difficult match?

And maybe an even deeper question:

Am I trying to get God aligned with my life, or am I allowing God to align my life with Him?

Because that's the temptation.

We want God to approve our direction.

God says:

“Follow Mine.”

We want God to bless our plans.

God says:

“Trust My purpose.”

We want God to change our circumstances.

Sometimes God says:

“I'm going to change you while you're walking through them.”

And sometimes people around us won't understand.

Peter didn't.

But Jesus knew where the Father was leading Him.

So when you've prayed, when you've searched Scripture, when you've sought wisdom, when you've listened for God's direction and the path becomes clear, don't abandon that path simply because somebody else doesn't see what you see.

And don't abandon it just because circumstances become difficult.

Alignment supersedes circumstance.

Why?

Because God can see what you cannot see.

Peter saw a cross.

God saw salvation.

The disciples saw a tomb.

God saw resurrection.

And sometimes you can only see what's directly in front of you while God already knows what's on the other side.

So stay aligned.

And remember:

The Gospel isn't just Good News I believe. It's Good News that changes the way I live.

It changes my direction.

It changes my priorities.

It changes my decisions.

It changes what I produce.

It changes how I love.

And ultimately, it changes who I'm becoming.

That's where we're going this month.

The Gospel changes my direction.

Next, we'll see that the Gospel changes what my life produces.

Then we'll see that the Gospel changes how I love.

And finally, we'll see that the Gospel changes who I'm becoming.

That's Living in Alignment.

And it begins with one question:

Does it match?

Benediction:

May the God who saved you by His grace continue aligning your life with His purpose.

When circumstances become confusing, may His Word give you direction.

When others don't understand, may His Spirit give you discernment.

When your feelings pull you one way and God's will leads you another, may He give you strength to say, like Jesus, “Not my will, but Yours.”

May your conduct match your confession.

May your direction match His purpose.

May your decisions reflect His wisdom.

May what people see in your life increasingly match what they hear from your lips about Jesus.

And may the Gospel you believe become the Gospel people can see working in you.

Not perfection. Alignment.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Invitation and Prayer:

Before we pray, I want you to ask God two questions today.

The first one is:

“Lord, does it match?”

Does my life match what I say I believe?

And the second is:

“Lord, am I going where You're leading?”

Because it's possible to be moving and still be moving in the wrong direction.

Father, search us today.

Search our hearts.

Search our motives.

Search our attitudes.

Search our relationships.

Search our decisions.

Search our direction.

Where our conduct doesn't match our confession, bring us back in sync.

Where our priorities don't match Your priorities, bring us back in sync.

Where our words don't match Jesus, bring us back in sync.

Where our private lives contradict our public confession, bring us back in sync.

And Lord, where our direction has shifted away from Yours, realign us.

Forgive us for the times we've asked You to bless plans we never asked You to give us.

Forgive us for the times we've asked You to follow us instead of us following You.

Forgive us for the times circumstances caused us to question what You had already made clear.

And Father, give us wisdom to know Your voice.

Keep us humble enough to receive godly counsel.

Keep us grounded in Your Word.

But once You make the direction clear, give us courage to follow You even when everybody around us doesn't understand.

Remind us that somebody can love us and still not understand what You're doing with us.

And remind us that difficult circumstances do not automatically mean we've missed Your direction.

Jesus walked toward the cross because He was aligned with Your purpose.

And because He stayed aligned, we have the Good News.

So Lord, we don't want You to align Yourself with our plans.

We want our lives aligned with Yours.

Let Your will get the final word.

Let the Gospel change our direction.

Let the Gospel change our conduct.

Let the Gospel change our priorities.

Let the Gospel change our relationships.

Let the Gospel change who we're becoming.

And when people hear us talk about Jesus, let them also see evidence of Jesus in the way we live.

Lord, make it match.

In Jesus' name, Amen.