Help for Graduates

The Lord is my help and salvation

Forks in the Road

Are you a follower of Jesus?

As a follower of Jesus, are you consistently following Jesus?

Some followers of Christ seem to spend more time being chastened by the Father to get back on the path to following Christ than they do actually following Christ.

Those folks, unfortunately, are not very useful for God’s people.

The distinctive difference between those who consistently follow Christ, and those who don’t is who applies God’s help to their lives

Proposition: We need to learn how to experience God’s help.

Interrogative: How do we experience God’s help?

I. Realize how desperately you need God’s help

A. Moses realized this as they moved into Canaan

Exodus 33:13–15 (NKJV)

13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

B. This was reiterated as Joshua took up Moses’ baton

Joshua 1:2–9 (NKJV)

2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Transition: We move to another crossroads in the life of Israel as they anticipate being taken over by Babylonian captivity.

II. Choose to please God rather than self

A. The Promise of God’s Help

Isaiah 40:28–31 (NKJV)

28 Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV)

10 Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

B. The Warning of Idolatry

Isaiah 41:27–29 (NKJV)

27 The first time I said to Zion,

‘Look, there they are!’

And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.

28 For I looked, and there was no man;

I looked among them, but there was no counselor,

Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

29 Indeed they are all worthless;

Their works are nothing;

Their molded images are wind and confusion.

Colossians 3:3–5 (NKJV)

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Transition: The next crossroads brings us to the New Testament. Jesus is about to leave his disciples, who will in turn launch His church.

III. Embrace the Christ and His Spirit as your closest friend. John 14:15-19(NKJV)

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. advocate | 1 of 5 1 Jn 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

A. Who the Holy Spirit Is

Comforter - Soothing presence

Counselor - He advises you

Advocate - He goes to bat for you/defends you

Helper - He is always there for you (abide with you forever)

Friend (best summary)

B. What are Role Is

Love and Obey God

Disinterest in Loving God and Obeying God indicates you’re not really his

John 14:23–24 (NKJV)

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

Transition: The next transition anticipates opposition from the world.

IV. Commit yourself to a local New Testament Church.

A. The Reason this so Necessary

1. To prevent a hardened heart from the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:12–13 (NKJV)

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

2. To stir each other up to love and good works (obedience)

Hold Fast Your Confession

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The Just Live by Faith

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

B. When are we forsaking the assembling?

Ephesians 2:19–22 (NKJV) Christ Our Cornerstone

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

We are all part of a household - 19

Siblings know each other

They know their strength and weaknesses

2. We are fitted together

Application: None of this describes merely 2-3 times a month.