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Sermon on John 1:38-51

Here are some thoughts of mine as I am preparing for a sermon on John 1:38-51.

There are various levels of faith here as well as response, but each of these men God used mightly.

Andrew – Was a disciple of John and then when he heard John say Behold the Lamb of God he stayed with Jesus. Andrew was out looking and seeking and not only that he was in the right places. He was there with John as John points out Jesus. Andrew like Phillip is ready to go and serve Jesus and again like Phillip is has the faith to bring along a friend.

Peter – was not there with Andrew follow John the Baptist, but for some reason decides to come with Andrew when he called him. What was Peter doing when Andrew came to him with the good news? Was he seeking? Maybe he was but unlike Andrew he was not in the right place to find Christ. Yet he becomes one of the greatest Disciples of Christ. Peter is an all or nothing guy. I think it is likely before his calling by Christ he may not have been the type of person that you saw very much around the synagogue. He probably wasn’t the most religious person before Christ got a hold of his life. Yet when he jumps in he wants every little bit of what is going on. That is why we see him later asking Jesus to wash his whole body and not just his feet. He may be misguided at times but he wants to be wholly involved.

Phillip - is living in the same town can doubtless has heard first and second hand accounts. Jesus calls him individually, but it is simply “Follow me”. Phillip in my opinion has the least introduction he seems as always sensitive to the Lord. He jumps right in not only bringing himself but a friend as well. We see him later on in the book of Acts the first disciple to follow God’s command to reach out to the disciples.

Nathaniel – is some what skeptical and Jesus gives him a sign of who he is. He is probably the most reserved and he is the only one that Jesus gives a miraculous sign to. Even still we cannot be too harsh on Nathaniel because how many of us would commit our lives to a man with only the information he had.

Everyone’s calls are varied. Each of us Jesus touches in his own way, but he is only going to reward those that give Him their lives. Some of these men were better prepared than others for what Jesus was going to do through them but they all would become unstoppable forces for good. Although maybe hesitant at first to give in they would lay their lives on the line for Christ the Messiah.

We Have Been Accepted

Yes as of today, after two weeks of intense testing and training, we have been accepted by Biblical Ministries Worldwide. We are now going to return home and finish our internship with Warner Ave Baptist Church and begin raising the prayer and financial support we will need to go to the country of Ireland. This is a tremendous step in the whole process and I am still in a bit of awe as to the blessings of God. We are all excited to see what God is going to do. I know there is a lot of work ahead of us as we move forward towards this work. God is certainly going to have to work as I am very weak. After all God does not call the qualified he qualifies the those he calls. My heart yearns for the people of Ireland. I know for sure that God is going to use those people again in a mighty way and I desperately want to be a part of it. Thank God for His mercy to us and choosing us to be in His service.

Moral Freedom

I am also currently working on an essay about moral freedom this a discussion that I think we as believers have been running and hiding from for too long. We especially the men need to man up and start doing what it takes to defeat the Devil in this area no matter what the cost.

Here is the opening to my essay

What does Moral Freedom Mean for the Believer in the Modern Church

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

Phil 2:15

Six Steps to Reprobation

1. Claiming that we are under “grace” we are free to do what we want.

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jude 1:4

This step I have put first although these steps may not appear in this exact order but rather they are evidences that a soul is taking the wrong steps down the wrong road. They are a sign of a spiritual wandering eye. Some on who is allowing the spiritual power to be drained out of them because they cannot let go of the flesh. A person that claims the above statement is one that cannot tolerate the “Rules” of the Christian life because they are enslaving themselves in the old nature. We are Christians are part of a new nature in Christ and have the ability to sit with Him in the heavenly places, but this person has been deceived by Satan that he does not have access to this power and has slid into sin. So to him any one who sets a high standard in his particular area of failure is legalistic. They are simply too orthodox. They need to understand in his mind that we are under grace. You might catch this person saying that we all fail from time to time. Why is it that we have to be completely free? Are we not a work in progress? Slowly over time as we will see they will turn away from absolute slavery to Christ, which is true freedom, to a terrible taskmaster the “old man” and sinful nature.

2. Despising Submission and Evil Speaking of Those in Authority

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”

II Peter 2:9,10

It is interesting how this passage in II Peter starts out. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation” We must always remember that there is a way out for those that trust in the Lord. God wants to help us we are the ones refusing the help. I remember counseling a young man who was struggling with a particular moral sin. In the discussion we kept hitting walls it seemed like this young man had tried everything but without success. Finally I asked “Do you want to be free?” He dropped his head and said slowly “No”. Wanting it is everything. God extends His help and we refuse it. Only for these people they have refused it so many times they have begun to despise any authority. You often find these people attending church but never becoming members. They don’t even want a pastor’s authority over them even in limited ways. They want freedom of thought. How can any one to tell them what to do if they have no true respect for the Man at the top Jesus Christ?

3. Scoffing at Spiritual Truths which are beyond Human Reasoning

“But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.”

Jude 10

Spiritual power annoys people on this path because they personally have none of it because they have rejected the Holy Spirit and His power. I constantly come across these people in Church, and they always want to play down Jesus’ miraculous powers. They especially hate it when God works through a fellow Christian with power, because it reminds them of their own lack of spiritual power. The Greek work for power in the New Testament is Dunamis from which we derive our English word Dynamite. Now to me the word Dynamite implies a lot of explosive power. How come these people can’t see it that way?

We are getting to a point now that the sensual drives are so out of control that they corrupt themselves in open ways. At first people like this can hide their sin as the passions get more out of control and they seek for new pleasures to satisfy themselves with they like a boiling cauldron begin to spill over and hurt people on a more massive scale than y before. All sin hurts people but the more it gets out of control the more it hurts others around us.

4. Complaining About Moral Strictness and Developing New and Fashionable Philosophies

“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”

II Peter 2:18-19

It is interesting that these people promise liberty and freedom only to enslave other like themselves in sin. They are constantly talking about spiritual things. They love to fill the air with all kinds of spiritualized things all the while fearing that their might be a discussion in Church about real heart issues. These people seem to love Church but Church better not invade their private lives. There is plenty of time for “Bible Study” in there book but never time to talk about how the Bible really applies to their lives. They are not interested in personal application especially in the areas were things might count. They might be happy to give illustrations about the other Church down the road but they never want to talk about the real problems that plague their lives. True confession is the last things in their minds.

5. Arguing Irrationally over Pseudo-Philosophies that Contradict God’s Word

“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.”

Titus 3:9-11

What Paul is saying here is get to where the rubber meets the road. Start talking about what Jesus did for us and how that changes my life completely. There is not need to waste time dividing hairs on foolish questions. So often I have seen church study groups study all the finer points of the passage and totally miss the obvious point of what it is about. They probably needed the message of that passage but they were so busy studying some obscure Greek syntax that they missed the point altogether. Not that studying the Greek is bad or that we should not be detailed in our studies of God’s word but do not miss the over point straining at a fruit fly.

6. Using the Guise of Religion to Cover Pride, Lust and Rebellion

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

II Tim 3:2-5

The key part of this passage here is this phrase “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” We can have all our ducks in a row and still be missing the point of the Christian faith. Jesus died for us not look good but to be good. He didn’t come to paint the out side of a dilapidated barn he came to rebuild from the foundation. Some of us are too in love with the old barn that we do not want it torn do and replaced we are clinging to trash and we think that if we brush it up give it a coat of paint it is going to be acceptable. This is why so many in the Christian faith have no power to overcome sin. We must let go and let Christ move in to rebuild a whole new castle to replace that old trashy barn.

Intership

Yeah, I am starting an internship here at Warner Ave Baptist Church. I should say though that I have started rather. I have been working on it the past month and studying various different things. It has been such a blessing to learn so many different things. God has been so good. I wanted to revive this blog to share with you some of the reading material that I have been reading as well as some of my thoughts on said reading material. I will be posting sermons, notes on books, reviews, and papers.

There are so much insight that we can receive from the Word of God if we are only able to search the scriptures. We should take advantage of every opportunity that we have especially in our day and age were we live such busy lives we are often so limited in the time we have. I plan to take full advantage of this time to strengthen my walk with God and deepen my understanding of God and His word and I hope to share with you as much as I can as I go through this journey.

Here is the opening to an essay I am writing on the seven I Ams of the gospel of John.

I Am Almighty

The Study of the Seven I ams of John’s Gospel

Prologue

Not that long ago I was in Ireland and had the opportunity to go out door to door witnessing with the local believers who were trying to make an outreach to their community. It was a cold January day and I remember very shortly into the trip wishing I had brought a bit more warm clothes to stave off the cold. After knocking on several doors and finding that most people were not to interested in standing in the cold to talk about God we were surprise to come to one door and get a chance to talk to a polite middle aged gentleman that claimed to be a professor at on the local colleges. Immediately we began talking about Jesus to which he agreed that he enjoyed talking about God as he was a professor of religion. Everything was going fine until we mentioned the resurrection of Jesus. That is were things began to break down. He then began to try to tell us that the Bible does not say that Jesus was divine simply that was a trick of the “Church” to control us. I recommended that he re-read the gospel of John because Jesus was very emphatic about his being God almighty. The Jews in Jesus’ time certainly did not have a problem understanding him as every time he mentioned his divinity they erupted in anger and sought to kill him.

So often we as humans even those of us that call ourselves Christians completely ignore the Divinity of Jesus Christ; the refutable fact that Jesus is God Almighty. Maybe this is why John when he wrote his gospel he showed such strong evidence to the divinity of Christ. Jesus being God Almighty deserves complete command of our lives. So often we, as Christians mind you, are completely content to accept Jesus in almost every way except God. We love him as a baby innocent and harmless, and we know he is a great teacher. Some of us might go further and recognize him as a great king and a powerful figure of history. But to let him into our lives and actually tell me what to do is a thought that most of us find repulsive at best. In fact I think we as modern man are quite used to governing ourselves in general. So much so that we even find this God thing a little hard to imagine. Our governments, although we in the western world complain about oppressiveness, are really not that intrusive in our lives. The thought of slavery, to most of us, is so old fashioned and out of date that most of us would have little idea what it looks like or feels like. The reality is that the very thought of some one else including a god telling me what to do is so far from the western mindset it takes much focus and thought for us to even consider the idea at all. How do we love this Jesus who wants to be God? How do draw close to some one that wants to control our lives? We are going to explore these and other questions in this book as well look closely at the passages where Jesus in no uncertain terms calls Himself Jesus. You might be surprise at the definitiveness of His statements and how they have a deep and real impact on how we think of our relationship with Jesus Christ Lord God Almighty.

I this book we will be discussing the 7 I Ams of the gospel of John. They are as follows including John 8:20-59 as an introduction to the thought process.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was I am.” John 8:20-59

“I am that Bread of Life John 6:48

“I am the Light of the World” John 8:12

“I am the Door” John 10:9

“I am the Good Shepherd John 10:11

“I am the Resurrection and the Life” John 11:25

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” John 14:6

“I am the True Vine” John 15:1

These statements are also the very words of Jesus describing himself and that is why they have so much power in revealing the character and person of Jesus Christ. They are explicit direct quotes which should off the divinity of Christ but also His deep personal care for souls like yours and mine. God bless you as you read this book.

For updates on our preparations for Ireland and the family feel free to visit our website http://lightofireland.wordpress.com/

Well here I am finally in the world of blogger. I started with a Xanga but since so many of you have blogs I decided to get one myself. This is site though will only be used for the convenient usage of some of your blogs that are locked and otherwise made difficult for us outsiders. ;) If you are interested in what is happening in my life you can vist this site http://www.xanga.com/kevalltheway to get all the nitty gritty details.