You might be a Christian if (2)

Good morning, CHURCH!

(Opening joke)

One day, a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink.

She suddenly notices that her mother had several strands of grey hair sticking out in contrast to her black hair.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked: “Why are some of your hairs grey?” Her mother thought she’d be slick and use this in her favor, and replied: “Well, every time that you do something disobedient and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns grey.”

The little girl thought about it for a moment with a puzzled look on her face.

Her mother thought surely her plan was working.

All of sudden the little girl’s expression changed and she asked:

“Mom, how come all of grandma’s hairs are grey?”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of 1 John 2:15 ESV for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination 1 John 2:15 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

This love is referring to a longing for or craving for.

This world is referring to a system in competition with God.

Having a craving for the ways of society is a direct contradiction to a longing for the Father.

The ways of society are not like the ways of God.

-The world craves what it sees that others have.

God teaches us to be content with what we have.

-The world craves whatever the flesh feels like will make it good.

God teaches us to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.

-The world is pride filled by its worldly accomplishments.

God tells us that pride stinks to his nostrils.

We are in week 2 of the series titled:

You might be a Christian if

This series was somewhat inspired by comedian Jeff Foxworthy who used to make jokes about being a redneck.

If you missed your 5th grade graduation because you had jury duty, you might be a redneck.

In this series we are pointing out some things that may give us or others, indicators that you might be a Christian/follower of Christ.

Today’s message title is:

“You might be a Christian if”

you reject the influences of Satan

If Jeff were to say it, he would say it like this.

“If you reject the influences of Satan, you might be a Christian.”

Satan’s fingerprints are all over society.

And God’s children are falling for the och-E-doch too much.

Point #1

If you reject sin (you might be a Christian)

Hamartiology which is the study of sin, defines sin as:

An act of offence against God by despising his persons and Christian biblical law, and by injuring others.

How often do we ever think that practicing sin in our lives, injures others.

*New believers.

*People watching you.

*Your children.

Among some scholar’s sin is looked at both in a legalistic way and in a relational way.

-Legally it is thought of as an infraction or contract violation of certain frameworks or perspectives of Christian ethics.

-Relationally it is thought of as a loss of love for God due to an elevation of self-love.

(It’s kind of like you saying that you love your spouse, but only showing it when it benefits you.)

Sin can be thought of the same way.

When you choose your own self interest over what you know to be the way of God.

Just like when the children of Israel kept choosing the way of other nations over the ways of God it provoked God to wrath.

Deuteronomy 9:7 ESV

Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

When God rescued them from the hands of Pharaoh, they made an agreement to follow God and His ways.

But they didn’t keep up there end of the agreement.

When we give our lives to the LORD, we make that same agreement today.

(Ask yourself, am I keeping my end of the agreement or am I taking advantage of God’s grace and mercy?)

1 John 3:4 ESV

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

To a believer that would be to live with complete disregard for the ways of our LORD and savior Jesus Christ.

I know that no one in here just disregards God intentionally.

Have you ever considered the greatness of God’s love.

How about the immense privilege of being his children.

And don’t forget being made like Christ in righteousness.

How many of you would like to be compared to Satan?

Isaiah 14:12-14 ESV

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

Lucifer was not supposed to be equal to God or above God.

He was supposed to worship God and stay in his place.

What does that have to do with us being comparable to Satan?

Genesis 3:4-6 ESV

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

She was deceived into thinking it was going to be wise to know both good and evil.

We were created to love God and to follow God, not to be like God in the sense that we make our own decisions on what’s good and what’s evil.

When we get caught up in the ways of this world and choose ways that don’t align with the ways of God, we are following the way of Satan.

And that is how we are comparable to Satan.

That was his modus operand i.

Point #2

If you reject the ungodly ways of the world (you might be a Christian)

Have you ever just peeped out, that the way of society is rebellion.

It starts when we are just small children.

If you ever want to get a kid to do something, just tell them not to do it and then act like you’re not looking.

The goal of good parenting is to work that rebellion out through overwhelming love and reverence.

As we look at society as a whole today, that rebellion didn’t get worked out and now rebellion seems to be the popular way.

Society says:

*Let’s rebel with our looks.

*Let’s rebel with our attitudes.

*Let’s rebel with our language.

*Let’s rebel in respect to God.

*Let’s rebel in respect to our parents.

If we’re honest, most of us have struggled with rebellion in one way or another.

Often our sinful nature doesn’t want to bow to the authority of another, even at times to God.

We want to do what we want to do.

(Parents have you ever gotten upset with your children for disobeying you or their teachers?)

1 Samuel 15:22-23 ESV

And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity.

The way of a believer or Christian is to delight in obedience to the LORD.

Now I understand it’s hard to do that when all you look at or listen to is tied to society.

(It’s kind of like being a kid and your parents said no more cookies today. Will you go upstairs to your room and play and get out of the sight of the cookie jar or will you stay near the kitchen and keep looking at the cookie jar?)

As your Pastor let me give a word of advice.

Stop trying to stay on top of everything that is popular to the world.

Point #3

If you reject self-gratification (you might be a Christian)

Let’s go back to Genesis 3 again, because this is where self-gratification entered the picture.

Genesis 3:1-3 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Satan wants us focusing on what we are not supposed to have, which gets our focus off all that we can have and enjoy.

God’s boundaries are in place so that you can continue to enjoy all that is good for you.

*In my marriage, all other women are out of bounds.

-Which keeps me being able to enjoy the one I’m with forever.

*With my free will, all other ways that differ from God’s are out of bounds.

-Which keeps me walking in freedom and inner healing.

(Adam and Eve didn’t struggle with fear, pride, anxiety or any mental health issues until they got out of bounds.)

(Closing illustration)

When I spend quality time with God and in His word, I am so built up and I feel so loved and complete.

Little things don’t bother me.

What others feel about me don’t carry more weight than what God feels about me.

My past traumas don’t torment me.

The closer I walk with God, the further I get away from bondage's.

(Did you know that you can be in church and not be walking closely with God.)

If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?