896 What Did Jesus Say About a Relationship with God
What Did Jesus Say About... • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 12 viewsNotes
Transcript
- Some items like a packet of chips look so delicious with all its pretty packaging & the packet is so full it seems to be bursting at the seems
- I can’t count the amount of times that I have brought some items like that home, only to discover, to my disappointment, that the bag is less than half full
- The bag was mostly inflated with air to make it look much fuller than it actually is
- So what you have is, in fact, a deception – a marketing ploy to encourage you to purchase the item
---------------------
- Then you have those fast food outlets – not naming names to avoid litigation – that advertise these big beautiful burgers which the guy in the TV ad, with difficulty, opens his mouth around to get a bite
- Yet, you go & buy one & you get this lousy flat & all over the place pathetic excuse for a meal & you wonder why there is such a big disparity between this marvellous looking creation on TV & this piece of stuff that won’t even sit straight in your hand
-------------------
- Frighteningly, this can sometimes be a picture of ourselves
- We see ourselves as the burger on the TV, that looks full & packed with good indredients, yet what is God getting in His hands?
- I compare that illustration with the way I see myself to the way God may see me
- We may picture our life from our own perspective & we do & it may look like that advertised burger on the tele
- But the reality may be quite different if the Lord shown a light on it
Q. Are we this dingy, messy piece of excuse for a burger in His hands?
---------------------
- Today, I want to add one more item to the series on “What did Jesus have to say about… with what He had to say about a relationship with God
- This might make us feel uncomfortable but we could liken that discomfort in going to a doctor when we have some dodgy symptoms showing up in our body
- It’s always uncomfortable to think that something may be wrong, but what of the alternative?
- If you go to the doctor, you may have a chance of recovery from something serious
Q. How much more beneficial is it, then, to have a close look at our relationship with God rather than acting as if everything is ok?
1. Don’t Be the Hypocrite
1. Don’t Be the Hypocrite
As young Johnny reached for the ringing phone one Saturday, his dad sighed through his teeth: “If it’s the guy from the office, tell him I’m not home.” That evening the family went out for dinner. Before leaving the restaurant, Johnny’s mother looked at the bill and mentioned that the waitress had undercharged them. “That’s their tough luck,” mumbled the father. On the way home, they joked about the box that dad had bought for the dashboard of the car. He called it the “fuzz buster” and bragged that it had already paid for itself when considering the speeding tickets he might otherwise have received.
Later that night, as Johnny finished his Sunday-school lesson, he thought what a good Saturday it had been. How much better than last weekend—when his father had grounded him for cheating on his maths test.1
- There are fewer things, we discover, that abhor God more than hypocrisy
Q. What is hypocrisy?
- Harper’s Bible Dictionary explains it this way...
“The Greek word transliterated into English as ‘hypocrite’ was used to denote an actor, one who performed behind a mask. Thus the popular understanding came to be that of persons who pretended to be something that they were not”.2
- The Bible Sense Lexicon adds...
“a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives”.3
- Now that can sound really bad and there are quite of few examples of Jesus referring to people – mostly the religious hierarchy of Israel – as hypocrites – actors hiding true motives & agendas
28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
----------------------
- Now I would like you to note whether such words & language would be accepted today in the church or in society?
- Imagine if someone brought these accusations against the religious hierarchy of the church?
- I imagine the person would probably be reprimanded for using hate speech
- Rather than address the issue proper, it is easy now to avoid criticism by referring to any criticism as hate speech
- Accusing people of hate can be an avoidance of the truth – we are better people if we take on board a challenge
--------------------
- In addressing hypocrisy Jesus gets to the heart of the matter with respect to how a person is to walk in an upright position with God
- Insincerity, false personas are nothing other than the traits of the devil & Jesus calls him a liar & the father of lies
- Truth is to be in the heart
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Q. How is it they have their reward in full?
- Because they receive their reward from people admiring & praising them for so-called godliness – “so that they may be honoured by men”
- Whatever you do that is praiseworthy, it is better for you that your only interest is in what God thinks about it – we seek to live in His favour
- We show a strong faith when we become only interested in the approval of our heavenly Father
5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
- That doesn’t mean that you don’t ask because He already knows
- The point Jesus makes is that making grandiose prayers with lots of fancy words & phrases with repetition is actually implying that God is stupid & can’t understand plain straight-forward talk
-------------------
- Even worse, some of our language is even manipulative
- It was a common trait in paganism to use certain types of language practises to manipulate God
- We can see this in the conflict between Elijah & the prophets of Baal in how they raved until evening & they cut themselves with lances – all in order to provoke Baal to act
- God is not some dumb, dumb that can’t hear – if He designed the brain, then I think He would fully know that for which we are asking of Him
2. You Must Be Born of God
2. You Must Be Born of God
- Jesus dealt hard & fast with the Pharisee named Nicodemus
- It shows in Jn. 3 that He just cut to the chase – no small talk, no little platitudes, just straight down to what Nicodemus needed to hear
- This man begins by saying, “we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
- It would be interesting to know what he means by “we” (we know) because as far as we know, the balance of the Jewish council were opposed to Jesus
- That seems obvious since Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness – obviously, so he would not be seen
--------------------
- Before Nicodemus even has the opportunity to tell Jesus why he had come to see Him, Jesus says to him...
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
- Let me explain a little technicality here which may help you understand this better
- The word “again” here – as in born again – is the Gk word anothen
- It means “from the top” – so born from the top (from above)
- You could take that to mean – in my case, born from a McAllan – from my father who is above me on the family tree (ancestry)
- This is the way Nicodemus has taken it to mean – silly duffer – as if to say that you have to be, physically, born again into his family tree
- But he confuses what Jesus says – just too earthly minded to think outside the box
-------------------
- What Jesus actually means is “born from the top” – “born from above” or “born from God”
- A divine, spiritual rebirth is needed for a person to enter into a right relationship with God
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
- As you don’t know or comprehend the movement of the wind other than what you see it do – as in blow trampolines into the neighbours yard, you cannot perceive the miracle work of God in a person other than by its effect on the life of that person
- Dynamic change is what Jesus talks about here – the turning of a person from darkness to light; from despair to hope & from gloom to joy – this is a divine work of God which is essential for one to truly know God
3. You Must Be In & Stay in the Truth
3. You Must Be In & Stay in the Truth
- The 3rd imperative for a relationship with God is for the person to be in & to live in the truth
- This is something that the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate had no clue about
37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.
- Everyone who is of the truth has the voice of Jesus resonating in their soul
Q. What is truth, you ask? Yes, you can ask that
- Truth is more than just true versus false
- Although, it does have that sense to be sure
- Jesus says to the Jews...
44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
- There is certainly the sense that truth is opposed to what is false
- The devil has always tried to falsify the reality of God & His motives
- As he did that with Eve – “You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it you will be like God knowing good & evil”
- He smears God’s intentions as though they are evil & selfish
- But it is nothing but falsehoods – God’s intentions were always for the good of mankind
------------------
- One of our objectives is to stay in the truth & we can do that by adhering to the truth as it is in God’s word
17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
- Jesus here prays that all His disciples will be holified in the truth
- To be holy or sanctified means to be different – to be set apart as God’s exclusive possession
- It means to belong to God & to be set straight in His ways & in His thoughts
Q. How is this done? Not by spending time in the gossip magazines
- But by spending time in God’s word because God’s word, the Bible, is truth
- It faithfully reflects the reality of God
------------------
- Truth is also related to integrity & faithfulness
- Jesus is the way, the truth & the life
- He is the way to God; He is the truth – in that He faithfully reflects the reality of God, He is the real deal – God in the flesh; and He is life – the One who gives life in all its fulness
- We abide in truth as we abide in our Lord Jesus Christ
4. You Must Keep to the Process
4. You Must Keep to the Process
- In other words, how you get there is as important as getting there
- The journey is as important as the destination
- Some people have falsely believed that once they’re in, they could go back to eating, drinking & being merry
- Someone with a genuine heart for God does not look like that
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
- This could be regarded as the main point in the constitution of the church or, at least, it’s mission statement
- We all make up our own mission statement, but here’s one already there & I suggest the one we’re meant to be using!
------------------
- The imperative of the disciples here is obvious: make more disciples
- Follow Me says Jesus to Peter,& Andrew & I will make you fishers of men
- The how of making disciples is clearly laid out in Jesus’ 2 sub-points
4.1. By Baptising Them
4.1. By Baptising Them
- Baptism is the point at which the church acknowledges the submission of a person to the Lord Jesus Christ
- Like that of the Philippian jailer who came to know Christ
- After knowing that Paul & Silas were wrongly imprisoned, he along with the other prisoners were listening to Paul & Silas singing hymns to God
- He then witnesses at that very moment a great earthquake with enough force to make the doors of the prison fly open along with the shackels & chains that the prisoners were fastened with - they fell off the prisoners
- The jailer knows that he will be executed for losing the prisoners falls on his knees when Paul declares they are still there & the jailer asks how he can be saved
------------------
- Paul tells him to believe in the Lord Jesus & you will be saved, he & his household – no mention of baptism for either him nor his household in this statement
- But then we find that the jailer risked his own life by taking Paul & Silas back to his house, bathing their wounds & he was baptised
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.
- All his household came to believe & as the response to God, were baptised into Christ
- So the first step Jesus is commanding is conversion
- A person comes to the point where they surrender their life in faith to Christ – baptism being the marker recognised by God & the church
4.2. Teaching them to Observe
4.2. Teaching them to Observe
- Once you become a Christian, it doesn’t end there
- There is an on-going process of renewal & transformation
- The apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 12
- Part of offering your body as a living sacrifice is in not being conformed to the pattern of this world but being transformed by the renewing of your mind
- Which simply means, learn to think God’s thoughts & adopt God’s ways
--------------------
- Jesus says that this is done by “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”
- The emphasis is on the word of Christ
- We have moments of great growth as a Christian & moments when we think we are just treading water
- Times of refreshment... & times of having to dig deep & persevere
- But this is the on-going process of the Christian life
5. Forgiveness Demonstrated Through Love
5. Forgiveness Demonstrated Through Love
- I would like to leave with you one sizeable challenge here that a person’s forgiveness is demonstrated through love
- In other words, the forgiveness one receives from God is made evident in the freedom to love others
- You see, sin has hamstrung people from being open hearted to Christ
- Jesus makes this point to Simon, the Pharisee, in our reading today
----------------------
- Even though this woman had a past she saw, in Jesus, her Saviour & she made no bones about it
- Her reconciliation with God is evident by her love for Jesus
37 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
- Instead of being elated by this wonderful response to Jesus, Simon could only think of this woman’s past
- The Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer mentions in his book, “The God who is There” the weird abstract art that we witness & the reasons behind it…
These paintings, these poems, and these demonstrations that we have been talking about are the expressions of men who are struggling with their appalling lostness. Dare we laugh at such things? Dare we feel superior when we view their tortured expressions in their art?
Christians should stop laughing and take such men seriously. Then we shall have the right to speak again to our generation. These men are dying while they live, yet where is our compassion for them? There is nothing more ugly than an orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.4
- What Simon could not understand was that he was just as bound to sin as the woman he condemned in his heart
- But what he lacked was what this woman gained – forgiveness!
- She was forgiven of her sins in that she loved Jesus much
40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
- She loved more because she had been forgiven more
-----------------
- It’s important to see here that she was not forgiven because she loved much
- Only Jesus can forgive sins & that through the cost of His death on the cross
- Jesus is saying that her love is evidence that she had been forgiven of great sin, because she loved greatly
If I said that it is raining because the windows are wet, I am not saying that wet windows caused the rain – that would be silly. I would be merely saying that wet windows demonstrate that the rain has come
- Her love for Jesus demonstrated the richness of her forgiveness
----------------------
- Today, we have looked at the dangers of hypocrisy
- We have seen the need for a person to be born of God
- We have heard the importance of abiding in truth
- We have seen the way a person comes into a relationship with Christ & stays in an on-going relationship with Him
---------------------
- A final challenge is this: If you have all your eggs in the basket of the world, then you cannot expect that you’ll have a genuine relationship with God
- All you’ll have is that piece of disappointment of a hamburger that you picked up at the counter
1 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching
2 Harper’s Bible Dictionary, p.414.
3 Bible Sense Lexicon, Hypocrite (Actor)
4 Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There (InterVarsity, 1998)