Possessing The Land_pt2: Following Christ

Possessing the land… is there something you are seeking to posses? A promise you are holding onto? Fighting for? Believing for?

Matthew 5:5 NIV

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

[LAST WEEK] - We discussed that Christ’s work in your life is complete. Now, rest in Him!

Rest = Promised Land

Look at this...

Matthew 11:27–28 NIV

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Christ, on our behalf

[THIS WEEK] - Let’s take a look at what Christ did on our behalf, and lets look at a part of “following Him” that we may be leaving out...

Hebrews 9:24 NIV

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.

Jesus entered heaven and now intercedes on your behalf!

[BACK STORY] - One evening Jesus is having dinner with His Disciples.

He tells them about his death.

He tells them about his betrayal.

Then, he comforts His Disciples...

He is there first

John 14:1–4 NIV

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

[WRITE IT DOWN] - He is there first

To prepare a place for you.

He entered heaven, itself, to prepare your place (your promised land)

He is the way

John 14:5–7 NIV

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus: “I go to the Father”

Thomas: “How do we know the way”

Jesus: “You know me...” “I am the way!”

[WRITE IT DOWN] - He is the way

He is the life in us

John 14:8–21 NIV

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

[PAYOFF] - “COME FOLLOW ME!,” He said.

Disciples: “How do we know the way?” “Show us God!”

Jesus: “You know ME” “Believe in ME, do works greater than these!”

He is there first!

He is the way!

[WRITE IT DOWN] - He is the life in us

[QUESTION] - Is there a part for Following Christ that we leave out, at times?

[POINT] - What do we believe “following Christ” is?

Is it doing life as He did?

Is it taking on Christian values and lifestyle?

Not that these are wrong things...

But, what is fully following Christ?...

Following [after] Christ

Hebrews 6:19–20 NIV

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

[PAYOFF] - Following Christ is going where He goes...

Entering the Promised Land!

Entering God’s rest

Entering the place He prepared for us!

[QUESTION] - Have we entered in to the Most Holy place?

Or is our “following” being done in the outer courts

Outer courts - Sacrifice and washing

Holy place - Spirit, word, worship >>> SANCTUARY & PRESENCE!

[QUESTION] - How do I follow Christ into this place?...

Walk by the Spirit!

The meek will inherit the earth (Disciple/Master)

The meek Walk by the Spirit

Galatians 5:16 NIV

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthuans 5:17

Romans 8:1–4 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

We don’t live by the rules of this world any longer!

We follow Christ by walking in the Spirit! We no longer live by the flesh (dead, limited, powerless)

Led my the Spirit

Comforted in His Spirit

Wisdom, revelation, understanding but the Spirit

[QUESTION] - How do I follow Christ into this place?...

Obey the Word!

The meek will inherit the earth (Disciple/Master)

The meek Obey the Word!

Matthew 4:4 NIV

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

[STORY] - Jesus stayed behind as He sent the Disciples into town to buy food...

Meanwhile He ministers to a broken woman, her life restored!

Disciples return with food...

John 4:34 NIV

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

[QUESTION] - How do I follow Christ into this place?...

Offer yourself!

The meek will inherit the earth (Disciple/Master)

The meek Offer yourself (themselves)!

Romans 12:1–2 The Message

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

[PAYOFF] - Following Christ is deeper than following a set of His teachings...

Following Christ is following Him...

into the presence of God,

into the Most Holy place,

into the Promised Land,

into the place He has prepared for you!

We are Spirit led, Word feeding/doing, God glorifying followers of Christ!

Take Away

Matthew 21:28–32 NIV

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Christ has entered before you. Now, follow Him!