Tuesday, October 11, 2022

 

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!

 

No comments:

Post a Comment