When Jesus is in
the House
A man shared… The other day, Hunter my 6 year old shocked me as
I came in the door. He said Dad, did the trash man come yet? I said, “I think so,” he said,” Good, I will go get
the trash can and bring it in.” I thought, “ I am such a great leader, I have taught my son the
responsibilities of taking care of and taking pride in his chores. I watched
him run to the curb, and joyfully bring in the trashcan. As I was sitting
eating my lunch, reality hit. Hunter comes up to me and says, “Dad, it sure is hot out there, do
you think we can go swimming?” Now I did not know, what
just happened here? Was I being set up?- Was he only performing his chores because he hoped to gain
something, or was he doing it out of enthusiasm?
When we react in obedience to God, is it because we are trying to
set God up? Or are we obedient out of passion??
Matthew
8:28-34
When he arrived at the other side in the
region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him.
They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 "What do you want with us, Son of
God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the
appointed time?" 30 Some
distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, "If you
drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs." 32 He said to them, "Go!"
So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the
steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33
Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this,
including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet
Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their
region.
Ephesians 4:20-25 That, however, is not the
way of life you learned 21
when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth
that is in Jesus. 22 You were
taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which
is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23
to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. 25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your
neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Revelations 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of
the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name
written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
I.
When Jesus Comes in
You are made NEW!
Matthew
8:28 When he arrived at the other side in the
region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him.
They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
a. The Gadarene
Demoniacs are a dramatic illustration of this point.
b. They were out of control.
c. They were possessed by demons.
d. They were violent.
e. They had no concern for others.
f. They (demons) knew who Jesus was but they didn’t
know Jesus!
g. They were like spoiled children wanting what they
wanted and wanting it RIGHT NOW!
h. Does that sound like anyone you know?
i. Does that sound like YOU?
======================
j. Jesus came in and everything changed.
k. They were made NEW.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new
creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with
its practices
Col 3:10 and have put on the new self, which
is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
l. The demons were gone and Jesus came in!
This man was suffering
terribly because evil spirits were controlling his mind and body. Nothing could
keep him calm. He could no longer live near his family and friends. He was
driven to live out of town, in a graveyard! He was so tormented that he
screamed all day and night. It must have been a terrible sound, hearing his
screams echoing off the rocky clefts in the middle of the night. These demons
even caused the man to cut himself with stones. Satan and his demons want to
harm people, because Satan is a jealous enemy of God. Satan and his demons know
they have no power to harm God, so they want to harm people because God created
every person in His image, and God is crazy about each one of them.
m.
When Jesus cast the demons out of the man he was a new man!
n. He could go home now.
I see him walking up the road towards home. People
are pointing at him, some are scurrying away! As he gets toward home, his kids
are playing in the street, they go running inside and cowering in the corner
they begin to cry because they have been hurt so many times before… BUT THIS IS
A NEW MAN … A NEW CREATION BECAUSE OF JESUS!
II.
When Jesus comes in you are made New Inside and Out.
a. We can’t comprehend the
change that is wrought when Jesus comes into the heart.
Ephesians 4:20-25 That, however, is not the
way of life you learned 21
when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth
that is in Jesus. 22 You were
taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which
is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23
to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. 25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your
neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
b. You were taught with
regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self…
I heard the true story the
other day of a grandmother who was going to be baptized and her whole family
was there to watch. They had tried to tell the 6 year old grandson what was
happening, how Grandma was dying to sin and being baptized into Christ and so
as they waited for Grandma to come out the 6 year old looked around and then
leaned over and whispered to his dad, “Daddy, how are they ever going to get
Mee-Ma up on that cross?” The great news is we don’t have to go to the cross.
Thanks be to God! Jesus did that for us. But there is a sense in which, when we
were baptized, we did go to the cross with Him. Paul says in Rom. 6- “We were
therefore buried with Him through baptism.. For we know that our old self was
crucified with Him so that.. We would no longer be slaves to sin.”
c. We are to put on the new…
Ephesians 4:23-24 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.
d. We have a part in this
process!
e. How often do you get
dressed?
f. We PUT ON the new … every
Day!
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak
truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Every day
we have to make a mental decision to be a person that honors who Jesus is.
We have
to put on Jesus everyday!
Eph 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. 11
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the
devil's schemes. 12 For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you
may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to
stand. 14 Stand firm then, with
the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, 15 and
with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace. 16 In addition to all
this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. 17
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on
all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be
alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
III.
When Jesus Comes In
You are Given a New Name
Revelations 2:17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some
of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name
written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
a. You are given hidden manna…
How many can remember the story of the children of Israel gathering
Manna every morning accept on the Sabbath to find the sustenance needed to make
their spiritual journey from Egypt to the Land of Promise? We are told that
they first of all began to murmur among themselves about all the onions, leeks
and melons they had left behind in Egypt, and were now hungering for physical
food to satisfy their appetites. Then they complained to their leader, Moses.
He then went before God on their behalf. God in turn gave them daily Manna. Now
for the Israelites to be consistent, they had to go out each morning and gather
the food. They also had to finish using it and eating it by a certain time of
the day, or it would begin to rot, smell and be eaten by worms. God had told
them through Moses: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall
go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they
will walk in My law or not.” [Exodus 16:4].
Did you catch exactly what God was saying to the Israelites? He had
told them that they were to go out and collect the same amount of manna every
day. They were to be consistent in the amount of food they gathered for their
daily use and no more. God is still delivering Holy Manna each and every day
for our use: He expects us to be consistent in the reading and study of his
Holy Word. For in it we find the spiritual food that we need to be strong
followers of the Christ: To become a people that will share and not horde what
we have; who will become a praying people who want to draw closer to God the
Father through Jesus, the Christ. Listen once again to the words of the
psalmist:
“Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation!” [Psalm 68:19].
Jesus attempts to instruct us in the same way of thinking and
practice in the prayer pattern he taught His disciples:
“Give us this day our daily bread” [Luke 11:3].
So how do you and I gather this daily bread? As I stated a bit ago,
one location is the Bible, God’s Holy Word. But there are other times and
localities as well. There is one fast food product today that is almost a
favorite of any true blooded American: chicken nuggets. These small morsels of
protein not only satisfy the taste buds of many of us, but each one generates
just a little bit more energy within us to give us a boast to make it a little
further on our way. As we go about doing our daily routines we need to be
consistently looking for those nuggets of faith upon which to feed our
spiritual life. Definitely there are times of great blessing and wonderful
provision given to us just for the asking and receiving. So we must be on the
constant lookout for these bits of spiritual food upon which to feed. All that
is needed are a few nibbles of God's goodness and faithfulness to make our day
a little easier to live.
Rev.2:17b
… I
will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known
only to the one who receives it.
b. He will give you a white stone with a new name
written upon it
Token of Privilege - A tessera was given at Olympic games to the victor with
subsequent attendant social privileges.
YOU HAVE RUN A
GOOD RACE…
Allusion has been seen to
yet another kind of tessera, one supposedly given to a gladiator at his
discharge from the arena, exempting him from the obligation to risk his life
again there.
FOUGHT A GOOD
FIGHT
Many such tokens survive.
They take the form of elongated rectangular tablets of Stone or bone bearing
the name of the person, and the day and year, engraved
on the four faces.
c. God will rename You!
Imagine the sound
of the voice of God speaking.
Is it loud or
soft? … Is it audible or a voice heard
only in your heart and mind?
It should be a
sweet sound …
Now imagine that
voice calling you… not by your earthly given name but by a new name one given
only you by God himself!
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