Persecution And New Creation

Persecution and the New Creation Key Scripture: Galatians 6:11-18 ❖ Here at the end of Paul's letter to the Galatians he begins to write on his own. ➢ Apparently Paul had someone else write while he dictated the words, but Paul emphasizes his point here. ➢ He wants to close this letter here with a personal closing. ■ He reiterates that the Gentile believers (Galatians and many other non-Jewish born believers) are not bound by the ritual laws that the Jewish believers try to impose upon them. ■ He says the Jewish believers follow these ritualistic laws to avoid persecution. ● It seems that avoiding persecution was motivation enough for these people. ● Then they try to push these rules upon everyone else. ● It seems that, they didn't like watching other believers live in freedom while they lived in fear, so they wanted to push the Gentiles into fear with them. ◆ Persecution, as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, comes with the territory. ◆ Consider the words of Christ as He was sending out the disciples, "16 'I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.'" ◆ I consider this to be true for all who are sent by Christ into the world. ➢ Pastor, who is sent? Pastors? Evangelists? Missionaries? ■ Yes ➢ What about lay people, Pastor? Are lay people sent too? ■ Let me ask you a question to answer that question. Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? ■ If you answer that with a yes, you are sent. ● You are sent because you are a disciple. You are a disciple because you are following Jesus. ● You will be persecuted for His namesake. ● If you haven't been persecuted, perhaps it's time to rethink your life. Chances are, you have been hiding and didn't even know it. ❖ Hypocrisy! ➢ The word hypocrite comes from the Greek hypokrites which means "stage actor, pretender, dissembler." ➢ When Jesus used the word people easily recognized the meaning. When He called the Pharisees hypocrites for announcing their offerings with trumpets. They were putting on a show; acting out their piety, they were less than genuine toward God. In other words, they were merely going through the motions of religion, but hollow in their faith. ■ Paul tells us, "Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh." vs 13. ■ They were hypocrites! ● Even they didn't keep the whole law! ◆ In 5:3 Paul tells us that if you get circumcised you are obligated to obey the whole law. ◆ Even our friend James said, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." ➢ Sort of a "darned if you do, darned if you don't" deal. ◆ You can't pick and choose which part of the Law to keep and which part doesn't apply to you. ◆ You obey it all according to the flesh, or your breaking it all according to the flesh. ➢ Are you starting to understand yet? ➢ Jesus set us free from this!!! ➢ Live in that freedom, not to indulge the flesh, but to live for Him!!! Live in the Spirit! ➢ He says, "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Gal 5:14) ■ What a paradox! ■ It is only through Jesus Christ that we are free from the law. It is only through the Spirit of God that we can follow this one command, free from the law. ■ And none of it has anything to do with the flesh of man, the circumcision. ● Paul says, "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation." ❖ New Creation ➢ We who are saved by Jesus Christ are a new creation. We live in the New Covenant. ■ In this New Covenant, we have accepted the price Jesus paid for us. We now are signing His name to everything we do. ● Think about all those terms and conditions we "agree" to all the time. ◆ Does anyone ever really read them? ➢ I don't normally read them, I confess, but when we check the box at the bottom, it's like signing a signature and saying, "yes, I Michael Rysko agree to these terms and conditions." ◆ Well, instead of saying, I Michael, I am now essentially saying, I Jesus Christ. ➢ Wow! ➢ I don't say this to boast, and I still use my own name on paper, but Spiritually, God looks at me and sees Jesus Christ. ➢ I am living with His name. ■ It is because I use His name I have already fulfilled the entire law. ■ You have too. ■ Your name isn't your name anymore, you are now, spiritually speaking, Jesus Christ. ■ Your sins are forgiven, but it's even more than a "not guilty" verdict we get. ● We also have perfectly obeyed all the commands of God to His people. ● As long as we are living in the Spirit. ● Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. ● I'll give you a sneak peak to Ephesians here. ◆ Another letter from Paul. ◆ Ephesians 4:30 says, not to grieve the Holy Spirit, and the things that grieve the Spirit are the same sort of things Paul listed as acts of the flesh in Galatians. ❖ Conclusion ➢ So, in conclusion ■ Paul tells us that the acts of the flesh; both sin and circumcision, are not helpful to living according to the Spirit of God. ■ We cannot live for ourselves. ● Nothing we do will provide us any lasting joy. ■ We must live according to the Spirit of God. ● Let the Holy Spirit of God lead you. ● To do that we must die to ourselves everyday. ◆ Take up your cross and follow me, says Jesus. ● This is a daily effort. ◆ Wake up each morning and ask God, "how can I live for your glory today, Lord?" ➢ It should become more natural the more often you do this. ➢ It's like remembering to carry your wallet, put on your eyeglasses (if you wear them) and carry your cell phone (never leave home without it). ➢ When you do those things, remember to pick up your cross as well. ■ If it helps to carry a cross necklace or something, try it. ■ I do my morning Bible study everyday and pray. ● If I forget, my day feels off. ◆ (also, you may forget occasionally, but don't get too discouraged, your developing a new habit.) ◆ The devil will try to use this as evidence that your aren't good enough. ◆ Remind the devil he is a liar, ask Jesus' forgiveness (which He already has done), and live in His Spirit. It's a new day, amen! PERSECUTION AND THE NEW CREATION