What is Jesus saying to His church? (9)

Overwhelming victory is ours...

As I was trying to bring our summer series to a close, I thought, “How do we tie up the loose ends?”

There were two things that Jesus said to each of the churches:

1. To all who are victorious...

2. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.

To be victorious, we must have ears to hear. Many of the seven churches had gotten into trouble because they were living in their own strength. They were carnal Christians. Another way of putting it is that they were dominated by their sinful nature.

Overwhelming Victory

Jesus was calling them to overwhelming victory, and He calls us to Overwhelming victory.

On July 22nd, I was at a wedding rehearsal. I was getting marriage registration papers filled out, working through the details of what the ceremony would look like the next afternoon.

When I got back to our friends, Sam and Linda, the boys were excited to tell me that the Blue Jays had annihilated the Boston Red Sox 28-5.

I wondered how is was possible, so I went to my phone and saw that the score was 4-2. My internet wasn’t working properly. It was true that they had embarrassed the Red Sox 28-5.

Wow! How was it possible?

Many times in life, we have faced hardships or defeat so many times and we wonder if it is possible that we can experience overwhelming victory in our lives.

Let’s read our Scripture this morning:

Romans 8:31–39 NLT

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Phil and Judy Bowler promised that they would send me a book that has been powerful in their lives and ministry. It came a little over a week ago. It’s called, “Soul Care.” It’s written by Rob Reimer.

I had heard of the book, but didn’t really know what it was about. It’s really about experiencing freedom in Christ.

Even though I’m just nicely getting into the book, Reimer has made some statements that have made me stop and think.

Here’s a couple:

God is far less concerned about our behaviors than we think He is. He is much more concerned about our hearts than we’ll ever know. - Reimer

When I first read this, I had to stop and think, “What does he mean by this?”

As humans, we see only the outward. We see what people do and we make judgment calls about how spiritual somebody is by what we see.

This isn’t new with us. It’s been going on for a long time. Jesus exposed this in the Sermon on the Mount.

The 6th commandment of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall not murder.” With Jesus, He talked about becoming angry and even cursing each other that this was the same as the act of murder.

In Matthew 5:26-27 Jesus said,

Matthew 5:27–28 NLT

“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

What’s in the heart comes out. If we protect our hearts and we surrender our hearts to Christ, He will set us free.

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Let’s look and see what Jesus said about our hearts in Luke 6:45

Luke 6:45 NIV

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Reimer said that there are three things that we need to bring life change:

Anointed teaching

We as believers need to be hearing God’s word. This can come from sermons, Bible Studies, books and the list can go on.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

True Community

This is where we can be open and honest with each other. We live in a society that likes to keep the real us hidden. James 5:16

James 5:16 NIV

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Being vulnerable can tear at our pride or our sense of inadequacy. They won’t like me if they know what I’m actually like.

Satan wants us to believe lies so that he can steal, kill, and destroy.

Presence and Power

We need to experience the presence and the power of God. It is God alone that can bring can. He binds up broken hearts and He sets captives free.

It’s not will power, It is the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us that can bring lasting change.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Despite all these things

Romans 8:37 NLT

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

What is the Apostle Paul talking about, “Despite all these things”?

Romans 8:35–36 NLT

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)

Is there anything that can separate us from the love of God?

Is there any earthly force that can prevent us from being victorious or more than conquerors?

Who you are, the person you are was settled at the cross 2000 years ago. The lies that we believe about ourselves and our value keep us from becoming the people God wants us to be. (Reimer)

We need to change the way that we think about ourselves to bring it in line with what God thinks about us.

So what does God think about us?

God chose us in Christ...

Ephesians 1:3–4 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

We are friends with God

Romans 5:6–11 NLT

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Your value, what you are worth, is not based on what others think about you. It’s not even based on what you believe about yourself. It is based strictly on what someone was willing to pay for you.

What does God think you are worth?

1 Peter 1:18–20 NLT

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

(Reimer)

Your value is not based on your wealth or lack thereof. It is not based on your performance. Your value is not based on whether or not certain people love you. It isn’t even based on whether you feel that you are in control or not.

The issue of your value was settled at the cross.

This is going to sound a little bit crazy to some, but your ability to be overwhelmingly victorious has already been settled. The issue lies on our ability to surrender to the One and only One who can bring victory.

If we give God the sins of our hearts, the insecurities of our hearts, the things that have held us back for so long, we can experience freedom and we can be more than conquerors.

Romans 8:38–39 NIV

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Communion

Maybe you have heard it as Communion, the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist which means giving thanks.

This is where people who believe that Jesus died for them take bread and juice that symbolizes Jesus’ body and His blood and we remember that He was beaten and that He died for our sins.

If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, and have asked Jesus to be the one in charge of your life, you can take communion with us. It’s not about being a member of our church or being baptized, it’s about you and Jesus.

Examining ourselves...

This morning, I just want to take a few minutes to remind of what Paul said about preparing for the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 11:27–33 NLT

So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.

Honouring Jesus’ body

When we take the Lord’s Supper together, it should never be taken frivolously or with disrespect. When we share this together, we are remembering that Jesus died for us.

We shouldn’t be afraid to take it, but we need to examine our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to show us if there is anything in our hearts that we need to give to the Lord and ask that He would take it from us.

Psalm 139:23–24 NLT

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Once we’ve examined ourselves, we can come to the Lord’s table knowing that we are coming out of honour for what Jesus has done for us.

Invite council to come and serve

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Prayer & Closing