Sermon Notes 1-19-2014

I am a Saint!

Ephesian’s 1:1-2

  

SINNERS AND GOD’S WRATH

Genesis 6:5–6: “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”

Leviticus 26:27–28: “If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.”

Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Psalm 11:4–5: “The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.”

Romans 2:5: “Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Ephesians 2:3 says we are “by nature children of wrath.”

Colossians 3:6 promises “the wrath of God is coming.”

And in Revelation 14:10–11, we read of those who are unrepentant of their sin, “He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.”

·      More than three hundred times, the Bible speaks of people insofar as being sinners.

·      Over six hundred times the Bible speaks of the wrath of God burning against sinners.

·      We hear language: greed, pain, anger, hostility, punishment, hatred, judgment, and torment. Wrath from God is what befalls sinners who do not turn to God.

Morality is not determined by the majority; it’s determined by the Lord.

·      You will die and you will give an account, and it will not be to a mirror. It will be to the maker of all things, and he is holy and you are not.

·      It does not matter what the therapist tells you,

·      What the professor tells you,

·      What the philosopher tells you,

·      What the spiritual leader tells you,

·      What your mother tells you,

·      What your friend tells you.

It is what he declares that stands forever. The bible says, “Let God be true and every man a liar”.

For those of you who are non-Christians, I warn you that you are living in the path of the wrath of God. You are a sinner by nature and choice. My job is to tell the truth, your job is to make a decision.

IS A CHRISTIAN’S IDENTITY AS SINNER OR SAINT?

Here’s the question. Is a Christian’s identity as sinner or saint? Lets read it!

Ephesians 1:1 (ESV) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

·      Ephesians 1:1, says: “To the,” what? “Saints who are in . . . Christ Jesus.”

·      Now, here’s our identity: “in Christ.” And because of our position in Christ, practically we are saints.

How many of you would question my insanity if I got up and said to all you saints of PTCC??? LOL

·      You all would be like, “what about”

o   The Gossip over there

o   And that guy hung over

o   What about that couple that live together

o   How about the guy who just yelled at his wife

Ok maybe Paul’s church was all saints?? I don’t think so, a new church in a big city with baby Christians?? NOT!

No, they were people like you, people like me. They’re people like us.

·      Some of them are, you know, living a pretty decent life.

·      Some of them need some real work.

And he looks at the whole church, the good ones, the bad ones, the faithful Christians, the unfaithful Christians, the people who’ve tithed, and the people who tithed to the casino, and he says, “You’re saints. You’re saints. To the saints who are in Christ Jesus.”

As believers what separates us from the sinners is not that were Good, rather we are “In Christ”

·      Too many of you see your self as a sinner when you need to see your self as a saint

·      We have for years in the church seen our self as “sinners with Jesus”

·      But we need to see our self as God does a “new creation in Jesus”

Paul says we are saints! We are victors! Not because of anything we have done, but because God chose us!

  

Catholic Sainthood!!

I was raised catholic, and this whole saint thing is new for me and frankly was hard for me to get my hands wrapped around.

·      I thought saints were like superheroes.

·      They’re normal people endowed with amazing, superhuman abilities, like Chastity Man, or Aquaman, or Superman.

·      I mean, that’s what I thought.

·       Like, Superman could fly, and Aquaman could breathe underwater, Chastity Man could keep his hands to himself.

·      These are like superheroes. They’re like us, but they have special powers.

Then I read where Paul says “to the saints”! Wow

For years I thought there was a process and only select people could become saints!

Father James Martin, wrote out a  ten-step process to become a Catholic saint.

Number one: be Catholic.

Number two: die.

Number three: a local devotion grows up around your memory.

Number four: your life is investigated.

Number five: it goes to the local bishop.

Number six: then people start praying for a postmortem miracle, that you would heal somebody or do something miraculous from heaven, that you would show up on earth through the answering of a prayer.

Number seven: then the Vatican investigates the miracle.

Number eight: they declare you blessed

Number nine: another miracle.

Number ten: if another miracle happens to confirm your sainthood, they take a vote, you’re a saint. You’re a saint!

  

BIBLICAL SAINTHOOD

Now, Paul makes it really simple!

·      One step, no money, no committee, nobody with a clipboard, nobody with a hat, you don’t have to die, you don’t have to do a miracle.

·      One thing, what is it? To be a saint, what’s required?

·      In Christ Jesus. Are you in Christ Jesus? If so, you’re a saint. You’re a saint.

Here’s the good news, friend:

·      If you are in Christ, you’re not just a guilty, wicked, vile sinner who’s forgiven.

·      You’re a new creation in Christ with a new identity, and a new biography, and a new eternity.

·      All things have become new.

I’ll give you some ways of seeing this.

·      Sin may explain some of your activity, but does not define your entire identity in Christ.

·      You will sin some of the time, but you are a saint all of the time in Christ.

·      Sin is some of what you do, but not the totality of who you are in Christ.

·      There is a difference between being sin and having sin in Christ.

·      Because you have a new identity as a saint, you can have a new victory over sin in Christ.

·      As a sinner, you have a dark past, but as a saint, you have a bright future in Christ.

  

Our lack of understanding our true identity is what Satan use to make us fall to Sin!

When ever Satan tempts us to sin he uses identity

Matthew 4:3 (ESV)

³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

·      He questioned Jesus identity

·      And if you and I find our identity in our sin when the tempter comes, and he will come, you will fall!

·      Your identity defines your activity!

o   When you find your identity in Christ, you activity becomes about His business

o   And you find the tempter has no hold on you

o   You become brand new!

o   Paul calls it “being a new creation in Christ!”

See, if your primary identity is as sinner, and then you are tempted to sin, your identity will determine your activity. “I’m a sinner, I guess I’m going to sin.” No! “I’m a saint, I don’t have to. I’m a new creation, I don’t have to go back to old ways. I’m genuinely new and that means that the decisions that I make and the ways that I live, they’re new in Christ.” Amen?

A saint is remorseful if Sin!

We need to be careful to understand the difference between remorse (conviction) and condemnation! Let me put it to you this way!

“CONVICTION . . .	CONDEMNATION . . .
Is from God	Is from Satan
Leads to life	Leads to despair
Ends in joy	Ends in sorrow
Makes us want to change	Makes us believe we can’t change
Leads to new identity in Christ	Leads to old identity in sin
Brings specific awareness of a sin	Brings vague uncertainty about sin
Looks to Jesus	Looks to self
Is a blessing	Is a burden

I want you to see the difference between conviction and condemnation is really the difference between the character of God the Father and the character of Satan, his enemy and our adversary.

Satan wants your identity to be in your sin. He wants you to never be able to leave it or escape it. He wants you to have no hope for your future. He wants to shame you, he wants to remind you, he wants to condemn you, he wants to destroy you. He wants the worst day of life to be the defining aspect of every day of life.

God is a Father. He’s a Father who comes up to his kid who’s in sin and says, “Okay, first, let me specifically name the sin, so you know exactly what I’m talking about. Just not going to yell at you in general and make you figure it out.” And he’d put an arm around you and say. “I love you. You’re my child. This, this is not acceptable. So here’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to help you. We’re going to stop this, okay? We’re going to do it together.” This is the dad who smiles at you, gives you a kiss on the head, and keeps his arm around you as he’s helping walk you away from the sin and temptation.

A saint is powerful over sin!!

Ephesians 1:1–2 (ESV)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

How many of you would say you’re a saint and faithful??

·      People might question you

·      They may question your tithing

·      They may questing your bible knowledge

·      They may question your service to the church, and the community

Who you are determines what you do.

That’s why at PTCC We start with Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He’s perfect for those who are imperfect. He’s faithful for those who are unfaithful. He’s righteous for those who are unrighteous.

If we can just show people Jesus!

·      Do you see who he is?

·      Do you see what he’s done?

·      Do you see who he has made you to be by simple grace!

·      That he’s given you an opportunity to live a new life as a new creation!

 Then they can see what we do because of what he has done!

·      So, the reason we give is because God so loved the world he gave his only Son.

·      The reason we serve is because God serves us.

·      The reason that we forgive others is because in Christ, God has forgiven us.

·      The reason that we pour ourselves out is because our great God and Savior poured himself out.

So, what we do is not so that God would love us, but because in Christ he has. It’s not so that we would achieve an identity, but because we’ve received one in Christ. It’s not so that God would be pleased with us, it’s because we’re so pleased to be in Christ. This makes life a blessing and not a burden. This is a life lived in light of our identity in Christ, and that means that we get the joy, and he gets the glory, and others get the good.