Matthew 71
(Chapter 17)
Will we even recognize the signs of His return???
Matthew 17:10–13 (NLT)
10 Then his disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?”
11Jesus replied, “Elijah is indeed coming first to get everything ready.
12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way, they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”
13 Then the disciples realized he was talking about John the Baptist.
The problem: We can't see the forest for the trees!
Romans 2:8 (NIV)
8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
The solution: less us, more Jesus!
John 14:6 (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
You might be self-centered if You feel as if the world owes you
· The church is full of people like this
· The world is full of people like this
· We have raised a generation of people like this!!
· That think they are entitled to everything they want
· And they throw a tantrum when they don’t get their way (or burn down a city)
· But there are more subtle approaches too
o Whining, complaining, pouting, and grumbling. Oh yea, there is backstabbing and lying as well!
Solution!
Mark 10:45 (NIV)
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
· Get off your high horse and follow your savior’s example!
· You really aren’t that special!!
You might be self-centered if You make everything about you
· Incredibly self-absorbed people want to be the center of attention because they want to hear more about themselves.
· Call it what you want narcissistic, egotistical, I don’t care but it’s just plain rude!
· These people think the world revolves around them
· Jesus had them (Pharisees) we have them today in the church (we are seeing it more and more lately) with the woke culture using these times for their own good and attention!
Solution!
Mark 8:34 (NIV)
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
· Jesus said to deny ourselves and follow!
· When you follow you are never the center of attention!
· So, GET OUT OF THE WAY! And make room for Jesus!
You might be self-centered if You have to be noticed!
· You want everyone to see what you do and when you do it!
· It kind of goes along with our last point!
· You live on Social media
o Everyone knows everything you do
o There are selfies and Instagram stories about all you do and how good you are
Solution!
Matthew 6:3–4 (NIV)
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
· It’s not about the world seeing what you do
· It’s about Jesus seeing it!
· The question is where do you want your rewards?
You might be self-centered if you never repay a favor
· A refusal to return a favor is an act of selfishness.
· We ask all the time
o Money
o Stuff
o And time
· But when it comes time to return the favor we can’t be bothered
o Because remember the world and everyone in it owes us!!!
Solution!
Psalm 37:21 (NIV)
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;
· Get over yourself
· None of us are better than the other
· We all need help, and we all need to help!
· And it is addicting when you start to help others!
You might be self-centered if you're envious of others’ success
· We know that it was owed to us!
o They should have never got that “fill in the blank”
· Envy and pride are the roots of all sin!
· It creates a competition that we will try and win at all cost
· It causes us to gossip and lie to get what we want
· It leads to destruction in the believer’s life!
· Never forget it was Envy that killed Jesus!
Mark 15:10 (ESV)
10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. (Pilot)
Solution!
Proverbs 14:30 (ESV)
30A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.
· We have got to give our heart to Jesus
· And know that our circumstance and where we are right now is exactly where God wants us!
· And that it will be for our good!
You might be self-centered if You are always friendly at the beginning
· “people are either a vehicle to get what we want or an obstacle in our way!
· I have said this for years
· That most people are only nice when you are of use
· And it is that way in the church as well
· We may not say it out loud, but we think it!
o You want the church to do something or go in a certain direction
o And when they don’t, we withhold our tithe
o We don’t go for a while
· We have all been that person
The solution!
Philippians 2:3 (ESV)
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
We need to take a long look in the mirror!
We, all of us, are some days so self-centered, self-absorbed, we wouldn’t see Jesus if He came up and slapped us in the face! We have to stop looking out the window and start looking in the mirror more!
We have to remember that we surrendered ourselves to Jesus the day we said “I am yours!” and that we vowed to die to our self-centered self and be reborn into something new that the world would see!
I will leave you with this!
Romans 12:3 (ESV)
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
We all just need more JESUS!
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