Nov. 17, 2019 - Our Work in God's Work
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A couple weeks I mentioned that I had purchased a 2500 square foot net...
to help me catch all the leaves that fall in my yard every year…**
In that process of finishing up getting the leaves in my front yard out to the curb...
Trey decided that he would help me...
And so he went into the garage and got out our BLOWER...
And unraveled the long extension cord…and then helped blow some of the leaves for me...
It’s something we all - as parents - try to do with our kids...
We want them to develop a WORK ETHIC…in life...
SO THAT when they get older - they will be able to FUNCTION as ADULTS.
And so it was NICE to see Trey taking initiative and - WORKING.
A couple weeks ago - we ALSO saw how FAITH and WORKS - coincide within Christianity
Today, we’re actually going to REVISIT the end of LAST WEEK’S SERMON...
where we see Jesus RAISE Lazarus from the dead...
And it’s going to be a GREAT REMINDER for us - to HELP US see how the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE - USES us in His WORKING...
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
What we’re going to do today is look at this miracle...
....and focus in on 3 COMMANDS of Christ...
We’re actually going to start with the 2nd command…and then go to the 1st and 3rd...
Here’s the 2nd command!
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
“Lazarus, Come Out”
“Lazarus, Come Out”
Jesus here commands a DEAD MAN - to rise
Now some will say that this DOES NOT portray what happens in the New Birth...
BUT - we think differently...
Scripture is FULL of evidence showing that Jesus AWAKENS dead people to life when SALVATION comes!
The Bible tells us - very clearly - our state before God - APART from Jesus Christ...
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
And lest we think that the apostle Paul was just pointing the finger here...
v3 says - AMONG WHOM WE ALL once lived...
DEAD IN SINS… this is what Paul is describing...
SPIRITUAL DEADNESS!
*Most of you probably don’t know this but my youngest daughter Tenley is TERRIFIED of - BUGS
And so if Tenley ever comes across a DEAD BUG - she’ll always start yelling - BUG!
She thinks it’s alive…and most times - I DON’T KNOW if it is or not…So what do I do?
FLICK…Poke it...
NOW - when I poke it and it just lays there…WHAT’S the CONCLUSION?
It’s - DEAD...
Why conclude that?
Because IF IT was ALIVE - a bug would RESPOND to being POKED!
OK - so i POKE this bug - NO RESPONSE...
I FLICK this bug - NO RESPONSE...
NOW - what would happen if i took that DEAD bug - and then STEPPED ON IT!??
Would it become MORE DEAD?
WHY?
Because when something is DEAD - it’s - DEAD
There ARE NO LEVELS to deadness! Right?
**Put 2 dead bugs on the ground....and draw a FINISH line in the dirt...
The one bug has been dead for 3 months
The OTHER bug has been dead for 1 day
WHO’S gonna WIN the race?
Neither - they’re both dead!!
1 is NOT MORE DEAD than the other!
NOW, back to Paul.
back to [THESE VERSES]
We - APART from Christ - ARE DEAD in our SINS!
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Physical and spiritual)
Physically dead things are UNABLE to do physical things...
Spiritually dead things are UNABLE to do spiritual things…!
So we are DEAD in our sin...and THAT has consequences on us...
Since we're DEAD in our sin...
We're unable to trust God or His word
Jesus repeatedly claims that we are powerless WITHOUT Him...
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
AND that we can't even COME to Jesus unless the Father draws us...
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
God shows us in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that those who are DEAD in their sin...are not able to understand the things of God…and it tells us why
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
God teaches us in Romans that being DEAD in our sin...we can't even please God...
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Paul here in these verses is speaking about his FORMER self!
He was HOSTILE to God...
He HATED God!
SO WHAT HAPPENED???
Here’s what happened!
[REPLACE Lazarus with PAUL]
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
THIS is what happened - Standing before Saul’s tomb...
Jesus cried out - PAUL, come OUT!!
ANYTIME - anyone comes to FAITH in Jesus Christ - this PICTURE is played out!!
Jesus - BRINGS men from DEATH, to LIFE
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD....
God - MADE US alive!!
And it’s a DIRECT reflection of what happened at Lazarus’ tomb...
JESUS MADE him - alive
“Lazarus - Come out!”
BUT - that was only 1 of Christ’s commands...
Let’s look at the other 2, and see if they apply to our lives...
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
So here in v39 we see what is actually the first command given by Christ - pertaining to this miracle...
“Take Away the Stone”
NOW - the 2nd command that we started with was Christ COMMANDING LAZARUS (the dead man) - to come to life
The 1st command - was to whom?
It was to those there who BELIEVED…and probably even some who DOUBTED.....”take away the stone”...
NOW - those there probably weren’t REALLY prepared to take in what was about to happen...
But the question is this:
SLIDE:
Could Jesus have moved the stone Himself?
Sure He could have…but He chose to - have others - BE a MEANS to His end!
What were they doing in “MOVING the STONE?”
They were PREPARING the way for a DEAD MAN - to come to life...
SLIDE: "Take Away the Stone”: Preparing the Way of Salvation
“Take Away the Stone”
“Take Away the Stone”
This is OUR call....
We’re called to - Prepare the way of salvation for those around us!
Jesus could have easily moved the stone…but He BROUGHT others into this MIRACLE...
- And this is how Christ operates...
When we look at this idea of "Preparing the Way" we should think about John the Baptist...
Why?
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
AGAIN - When we think about this - Did Jesus NEED someone to PREPARE the way for Him?
NO - but He chose THEN - and chooses NOW - to use US to accomplish His purposes...
SO HOW DO WE - [prepare the way] for the miracle of Salvation...?
Because we ARE called to do so...
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Now - PREPARING the WAY for Salvation - We do this by - PROCLAIMING the name of Christ...
- Proclaiming His work…and all it accomplished!
“Take away the Stone”… PREPARE the WAY of Salvation: That’s the 1st COMMAND...
The 2nd command is by Christ Himself - directed to the DEAD- COME OUT!
Then...The 3rd command:
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
SLIDE: "Unbind him, and let him go": Making Disciples
“Unbind Him”
“Unbind Him”
Lazarus has just been given LIFE...
Now, he needed HELP in order - to WALK...How does this pertain to us?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
After conversion...we begin to SEEK God...walking according to the Spirit...
And this is called SANCTIFICATION...
It's a time of GROWTH!
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Do you hear it - we are to grow from - Children IN THE FAITH...to...MANHOOD (Mature in the faith)
And as we GROW - we begin to WALK more like Christ.
*I'm sure we've all done the Potato Sack Race... (one leg tied to another) - it's HARD to run...
But i think an even BETTER analogy is this:
Think of how PARENTS and CHILDREN interact with each other in the home...
**Children
2 year olds typically don’t make their own breakfast
2 year olds typically don’t get themselves dressed
2 year olds typically don’t make dinner for the family...
what do they do?
They RELY on MOM AND DAD for EVERYTHING!!
**PARENTS
Parents DO make breakfast for the 2 year old
Parents DO figure out what the kid is going to wear...
Parents DO decide WHAT to make AND make dinner for the family...
When Lazarus came out of that tomb...he was like a NEW CHRISTIAN (that 2 year old)...legs bound...hard to WALK...He had to be UNBOUND...and he - - NEEDED Help to DO IT!
WE- as Christians are CALLED to help each other - WALK - more like Christ!
God USES us to help each other GROW in the faith!
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
And God expects us to GROW...to become more MATURE in the faith...
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
There's an Expectation of growth when it comes to Christianity...
And AS WE’VE SEEN today - WE help EACH OTHER grow!!
SUMMARY:
So what have we seen...
We've seen that even though SALVATION is a miracle of God through Christ...
We are called to be a MEANS in the miracle… (of salvation)
SLIDE:
PREPARE THE WAY
MAKE DISCIPLES
I wanted us to see this calling - being played out (in principle) - in this 1st century miracle...
NOW - Shifting gears a bit...I want to walk through how AFBC is set up to help us LIVE OUT what we just saw...And we're gonna get real practical here...
What does it mean for US to - Prepare the Way:
If a person comes in to AFBC, gets saved, is now a new Christian, but is called themselves to PREPARE the WAY for others, how will they get to that point of preparing the way for others?
They need - TO GROW themselves so they can then in turn, help others grow!
*How will Tia (6) ever help Tenley (2) learn how to drive a car?
What structures do we have here at AFBC to help people - grow?
How do we GROW?
We HEAR...and then we DO
Sunday Morning Service: *come, fellowship, hear the word, fellowship
Opportunities to come early to help set up church / Music ministry
Bible Studies: *coming, hearing the Word, sharing, learning, growing
Classes: Teaching opportunities
Food Ministry: *coming, sacrificing, serving, sharing
Events: Night to Shine, Easter Event, Thanksgiving Event, Christmas Event
Outreach Events: Community Day at the Park, Walked Neighborhoods, Community Date Night
In-reach Events: Breakfasts, Parties, Building Work
All of these - opportunities for us to - GROW
And not ONLY THAT...but we're setting up a STRUCTURE here that will allow for growth - yes...But ALSO for leaders to emerge
Let’s look at a diagram that I think will help in putting some legs to these ideas...
SLIDE: Discipleship Path
Now - we know that Structures and Processes DON’T SAVE ANYONE...
BUT - we’re called to help shepherd people...
to MAKE disciples - who can then make disciples…who can then make disciples!
And this is just a simple framework that we feel will be FERTILE SOIL for those who choose to engage the process...
What’s the end goal for all of this?
That people would GROW in their faith - CLOSER to Christ...
Living lives that look MORE LIKE Christ...
That LEADERS would be raised up…who
would take ownership of ministries...
Here’s probably the best analogy...
It’s the DIFFERENCE between a: CUSTOMER and a HOME OWNER
If every time you interact with the church, you’re a customer, then you’ll always be a - CONSUMER
I used to belong to a gym back in the day...
and so I was a CUSTOMER…of that gym
And BEING a customer -
I never went to the gym early:
to clean the equipment...
to set things up...
to make sure the gym was ready for the public...
I just went, and began CONSUMING what was there...
I would walk in and start working out…(jump on the equipment)
I’d walk over and get a drink out of the water fountain...
I never went in early to make sure the water fountain was working so that others would have water...
I was a - CUSTOMER
Are HOME OWNERS different?
Yeah they are...
Home Owners OVERSEE the operations of the home...
They’re not just CONSUMERS…they go around the house to make sure things are working...
they INITIATE...
The hopeful outcome of this STRUCTURE is twofold...
That people will draw closer to Jesus Christ…growing in their faith/trust
That leaders would rise up as they live out and walk down this path...
God calls us to be instruments in His hands...
And so may we work to be those instruments…as He works in us...
Let’s pray