Red Letters Series
Notes
Transcript
Red Letter Series
Red Letter Series
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
:24
Matthew 7
We are starting a new series this morning called Red Letters. Where we will be examining the words of Jesus, because as Brother Henry brought out last week in his sermon, When Jesus asked the disciples if they also would go away, Peter said where shall we go Lord, you have the words of life. Now it is a dangerous thing to be a hearer only and not a doer of the word.
Jesus separates people into two different categories, and both categories heard what he was saying, The difference is one heard and obeyed, and the other group heard and disobeyed. Notice this as well both experienced the rain fall, the floods, and tornado like winds. Don’t getthe idea that being a christian is all sunshine and rainbows, there are real storms.
The ones that listened and obeyed, they are likened to ones that dug deep and built their house on bedrock. The ones that heard and did not do built their house on the sand.
ILLUSTRATION_ CITY DUMP
ILLUSTRATION_ CITY DUMP
I once heard of a land developer who bought In an older city in America there was a land developer who bought a city dump. And for years and years and years, the city put their garbage and the trash in that city dump. But he purchased it, and he hauled in some dirt and some landfill, and spread that dirt out over that trash and just sort of loosely tamped it down. This was back before the zoning laws were real strict in that city. And then he put in streets and curves and sidewalks—subdivided it. They built beautiful homes, and people moved in, and it was as beautiful a neighborhood as you’ll ever see.
1.But then suddenly the subsoil began to shift, the window sills began to crack,
2. the roofs began to sag, the sidewalk started to buckle,
3. the streets cracked, the curbs broke, and people just moved out, except for just a few people who continued to live there. The old-timers who had lived in that community just shook their heads, because they knew what had happened. Those people had built their homes on garbage.
Today we have a lot of people building their life on trash. They are building their lives on sand pits. They are building their lives on lies.
Rogers, A. (2017). Dealing with Discouragement. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive B. They Were Weighted Down
In an older city in America there was a land developer who bought a city dump. And for years and years and years, the city put their garbage and the trash in that city dump. But he purchased it, and he hauled in some dirt and some landfill, and spread that dirt out over that trash and just sort of loosely tamped it down. This was back before the zoning laws were real strict in that city. And then he put in streets and curves and sidewalks—subdivided it. They built beautiful homes, and people moved in, and it was as beautiful a neighborhood as you’ll ever see. But then suddenly the subsoil began to shift, the window sills began to crack, the roofs began to sag, the sidewalk started to buckle, the streets cracked, the curbs broke, and people just moved out, except for just a few people who continued to live there. The old-timers who had lived in that community just shook their heads, because they knew what had happened. Those people had built their homes on garbage.
The Word of God says that there is a way that seems right to a man but the end there of is death. It is a dangerous thing to live your life by what is culturally exceptable. It is a dangerous thing to live your life by what you feel is right for you. If we are going to have a firm foundation we must live by the words of the Lord Jesus. By the Red Letters
Now if you don’t think the Words of the Lord can change your life, I want to take a second to share with you how the Words of the Lord have changed the World.
Now if you don’t think the Words of the Lord can change your life, I want to take a second to share with you how the Words of the Lord have changed the World.
Who is Christ?
Now keep in mind the Lord had a 3.5 year ministry, thats about as long as Relevant Church has been in existence. A whopping 42 months
How has he changed the world?
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Literally everything that the Lord touched he utterly transformed
Taken From Dr. D JAmes Kennedys book what if Jesus
There are roughly 2.4 billion believers in the World today
Calendar- He literally splits all of history
B.C. Before Christ
A. D. - Does not mean after death, it is the latin “anno Domini” Means year of the Lord
positive contributions Christianity has made through the centuries, here are a few highlights:
• Hospitals, which essentially began during the Middle Ages.
• Universities, which also began during the Middle Ages. In addition, most of the world’s greatest universities were started by Christians for Christian purposes.
• Literacy and education for the masses.
• Capitalism and free enterprise.
• Representative government, particularly as it has been seen in the American experiment.
• The separation of political powers.
• Civil liberties.
• The abolition of slavery, both in antiquity and in more modern times.
• Modern science.
• The discovery of the New World by Columbus.
• The elevation of women. / In that day the word of a women was basically worthless/ But women were the first ones to testify to the ressurection
• Benevolence and charity; the good Samaritan ethic.
• Higher standards of justice.
• The elevation of the common man.
• High regard for human life.
• The civilizing of many barbarian and primitive cultures.
• The codifying and setting to writing of many of the world’s languages.
• Greater development of art and music. The inspiration for the greatest works of art.
• The countless changed lives transformed from liabilities into assets to society because of the gospel.
• The eternal salvation of countless souls.
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Everything that the Lord touches, He transforms. He does it with nations, he does it in homes. Do you need transformation this morning? Does your home need transformation this morning. Well if you will whole heartedly begin to follow Jesus He will begin the transforming process. Thats the wonderful thing about the Lord. He doesn’t modify your behavior, Oh no he transforms the heart. The Heart of the Human problem is the Problem witht eh human heart, and that is where the Lord begins His work
Now most believers today have just accepted defeat. They have bought into the devils life that there is no way that they could ever change, ever become victorious in their life. Well I want to tell you this morning that that is a lie from the pit of hell, a lie bmeant to confuse, demantel and destroy you. Most of our problems come from trying to fight spiritual battles with man made tactics
If you would turn your bibles to the Gospel of Luke chapter 4
This morning we are going to learn how to handle temptation, how to overcome sin. Would you like a life filled with the power and the presence of Almighty God.
This morning we are going to learn how to handle temptation, how to overcome sin. Would you like a life filled with the power and the presence of Almighty God.
Luke 4
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ” 9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. 14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Now I like that last part there, he returned in the power of the Spirit.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Jesus told his disfciples in
Acts
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Listen to me, God wants your life to be filled with power. But we have to much humanism in modern Christianity. Where its all about behavioral modification, trying harder, or worse yet settling for the excuse well I am only human, and you settle for sure defeat. Again this is not modification, its about transformation.
There are basically three ways to battle temptation in sin.
Is what I call the animal approach.... you just give in. My dog Bailey is pretty obedient until you offer her food. She lives for food. She lives by her appetite, and that appetite is what drives her. Many people do the same, they are driven by their appetites. What ever seems natural and pleasurable they do. There is no fight there is only giving in to the moment. We we just give in to temptation, what you are really doing is sacrificing so much for so very little.
The other way is to fight it in the flesh… while that may be admirable, it is futile. You will always suffer defeat. Fighting sin in the poewr of your own flesh and like trying to fight a fire with a newspaper soak in gas
The final way to fight temption is to fight it through the Lord Jesus Christ
THE SIGNIFICANCE of the Number 40
THE SIGNIFICANCE of the Number 40
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
4 Is the Number of Earth
4 Is the Number of Earth
- The 4 Corners of the Earth- the points on a compass
There are 4 seasons of the year
In Revelation theere are 4 angels that are standing at the four corners f the earth
1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
Rev 4:
There have only been 4 One world empires in history
40 is the number for testing and trial on earth
40 is the number for testing and trial on earth
4 is the number of the Earth. Now if you take 4 and multiply it by ten you have the number of 40 and the number forty is used some 140- something times in scripture. And 40 had do do with testing and trial on the earth.
When God flooded the Earth it rained 40 days and 40 nights.
Before God sent Moses into Egypt to deliver the people of Israel- 40 years
When Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the ten commandments- he was up there for 40 days
Jonah preached to Nineveh that in 40 days God was going to over-throw the city
And Jesus is being led by the Spirit to be tested by the devil for forty days.
40 is the number of testing upon the Earth, and when that number of testing has ended, things are about to change in the spiritual. God is about to pierce the darkness.... In fact after his testing
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.
Luke 4:
We need a shift in our thinking. We tend to think of temptation as a negative, and indeed it is a negative when the test is failed. The shift is we need to see temptation as a test, and when that test is passed, there is always a blessing that follows. Mark this scripture down
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James
When we are tempted, we are being tested. The test is not meant to destroy us, it is meant to enlarge us.
Now don’t think that God ever tempts us to do evil. James tells us that much,, that
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
When I was a young Christian, temptations would be so strong that I would think, God is sending this temptation. No God will allow us to be tested but the devil is the one that tempts us. He lures us away with our own desires and lures us to do evil. And God will allow the temptation, but it is in the form of a test. But He promises that he will not give us more than we can handle
1 Corinthians
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Now that should expose one of the enemies tactics when you are being tempted… often times when we are being tempted the enemy tries to make us believe that we are the only one that is being tempted in this manner. And when we believe that lie we will get overwhelmed.
Any gamers in the crowd?
Whenever you get to a new level in a game, it is always hard. A lot of it is psychological. You face a new course, a new enemy, you dont know the right course of action or the appropriate battle strategy. And you usually fail. You die a couple of times.
Now lets pretend that you made it to a new level, and no one has ever beat this level, then you are triply psyched out.
Thats what the devil wants to do with our temptations. He wants to isolate us, make us believe that this is new territory, that this particular sin is brand new territory, and who are you anyways in Gods army… just a private....
Listen there is nonthing new under the son. The things that you are tempted with are common to man… but there is victory.
Going back to the gaming illustration
Sometimes when you are facing a new level, you will fail it a hundred times. you will think there is no way that I can beat this level, or this new boss. But then you figure out well the weapon you have been fighting with needs an upgrade. Your armor needs an upgrade, and when you get those upgrades you go in and demolish the enemy
The devil doesn’t want you to discover your upgrades. He wants you to keep fighting with that old flesh, fail, and fail again, get discouraged. Then come the lies. God doesn’t love you like he loves others. Youre such a disappointment to God. You have ruined your chance for victory. You will never reach your destiny
Blessed us in Christ with all spiritual blessings
Now first thing to keep in mind is that being tempted is not sin. If that the case the Lord would be a sinner. Because He is being tempted. And that is the wonderful thing about Jesus, is that you don’t have a God that has not felt the struggle and the sway of sin. No the Bible says that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin
Now everyone when being tempted are going to be tempted in diffrent ways but but not neccessarily in different areas. All temptations are going to target three different areas
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
ff
a. The Lust of the Flesh
Doing- Now the lust of the flesh speaks of your carnal nature that works upon your body. The sins of the lust of the flesh, or the temptation of the lust of flesh, deal with doing something in the physical realm. That’s the lust of the flesh.
b. The Lust of the Eyes
Having- Then, the lust of the eyes doesn’t deal with doing, but it deals with having. Your eyes have an appetite. Have you ever heard anybody say, “Feast your eyes upon that”? This is the desire to acquire and to have, and it deals not primarily with the body, but with the soul, the mind, the emotion, and the will.
c. The Pride of Life
BEING And then, the pride of life. That doesn’t deal with doing. It doesn’t deal with having. It deals with being. The pride of life is to be somebody important, to strut your stuff. It is exactly what the Word says: “the pride of life.” It deals not with doing, not with having, but with being.
The first of these temptations deals with our passions, the second deals with our possessions, and the third deals with our pride.
1.The first of these temptations is toward the body.
he first of these temptations is toward the body. The second is toward the soul. The third is toward the spirit. Pride is a matter of the spirit that separates us from God. “God resists the proud, but He gives grace unto the humble.” () Now I want you to see the temptation of Jesus, and I want you to see how Jesus was tempted in all of these points like as we are. ()
2. The second is toward the soul.
3. The third is toward the spirit. Pride is a matter of the spirit that separates us from God. “God resists the proud, but He gives grace unto the humble.” () Now I want you to see the temptation of Jesus, and I want you to see how Jesus was tempted in all of these points like as we are. ()
Jesus was tempted with the Lust of the Flesh
Jesus was tempted with the Lust of the Flesh
Luke 4
Rogers, A. (2017). How to Handle Temptation. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”
The temptation here was a lust of the flesh. To give in to his craving. To choose food over God. To make his belly his God. To make bread his only strength. To put the desires of the belly over the will of God
18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Phil
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Outline
The Principles of Triumph
A. The Principle of Sonship
B. The Principle of Submission
C. The Principle of Spiritual Endowment
D. The Principle of Scripture
E. The Principle of Satisfaction
Jesus was Tempted by the Lust of the Eyes
Jesus was Tempted by the Lust of the Eyes
He was tempted with Having
5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
Luke 4:5
Satan showed him all the Kingdoms of the world and all their glory. It was a temptation to have. in the parable of the sower Jesus said that some people are like seed scattered among weeds. The weeds choke out the the plant and it never bears fruit. And he said these are those
Jesus was Tempted by the Pride of Life
Jesus was Tempted by the Pride of Life
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
:9
This was a temptation of being. To show off
The Principles of Triumph
A. The Principle of Sonship
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21
The starting place isto be a child of God. If you are not a child then you don’t have the resources of the father.,
B. The Principle of Submission
I always do the things that please the Father
C. The Principle of Spiritual Endowment
Jesus did not overcome the devil as God, He overcame the devil as a man filled with the Holy Spirit
D. The Principle of Scripture
Rogers, A. (2017). How to Handle Temptation. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.