1. Loyalty to Christ is found in these 2 verses
2. Entering into the New covenant, our
loyalty should be toward Him
3. Peter confirmed this word: Acts 5:29 We
ought to obey God rather than " men.”
4. Our character will determine where we go
in life and find what rules it!
At the beginning of our conversion usually during counseling for baptism, we are asked to consider this passage seriously. Verses 26-27 are particularly important because loyalty to Christ is the issue in this context. Jesus makes it plain that, after entering into the New Covenant, our highest loyalty is to Him.
This is extremely important because the character of every life is determined by the loyalty that rules it. Peter confirms Jesus' words in Acts 5:29, saying, "We ought to obey God rather than men." He made this affirmation following Jesus' crucifixion. Persecution was imminent against the fledgling church. However, we must understand that the world is always a threat against our loyalty to Christ.
Heard on the news where the new mayor of New York refused to mention anything of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. We have to have that "sacrifice" God ordained.
Loyalty to Jesus Who Rules
Ephesians 4:17-24 …..NKJV….17
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk
as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of
their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the
life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness
with greediness. (dealing deceitfully) 20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have
heard Him and have been taught by Him,
as the truth is in Jesus; 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct,
the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, (like living with big
egos)……23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that
you put on the new man which was
created according to God, in righteousness and holiness.
Lewdness: ( from
v.19) one who has the characteristic
nature to act out his arrogance & contempt in public. ( We see ignorance and that contempt in public when people refuse Jesus.)
Every person has character, and the character of every life is determined by
the loyalty that rules it.
Slaves of Sin No More : Romans 6:12-23 NKJV……12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but
under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present
yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of
sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be
thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that
dorm of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh,
For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more
lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for
holiness. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to
righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are
now ashamed? For the end of those thins is death. 22 But now having been set
free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to
holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Alignment with God into His Presence : Romans 5:6-11 NKJV.......6 For when we were still without strength in due time Christ dies for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
From Romans 5: 11 we also rejoice in God because we have a
present fellowship with God through Jesus. We are to understand and know that
the two: Sanctification and justification are not the same.
Each has a different process but within the same pattern God
has provided to us. His purpose is they both began at the same point of
salvation. In that profession and confession of our faith in Jesus, we are the
forgiven, the justified and sanctified.
But it is Justification that aligns us with that standard of
God’s law. It is that God activated card that brings us into His presence.
AND Sanctification is that inward spiritual work that Jesus Christ works in us.
Jesus confirmed that word when He spoke this: John 14:18: "I will not leave you
orphans; I will come to you.”
As our High Priest, He continues that work in us after our
justification. He not only washes us of our sins by means of His blood, but He
also labors to separate us from that which is of the natural love of sin and the world.
Jesus said this: John 5:17 NKJV 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
Philippians 1:6 NKJV Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
This
good work: Philippians 1:6..is in physical and moral sense. It conveys that of
producing benefits.
God in His mercy sent Jesus. In HIM, we have the benefit of
life eternal. He made us holy. In that work which is continuing, it is possible
for us to be the godly witness before men.
If God's only purpose was to save us, He could end the salvation process with our justification. Certainly, His purpose is to save us, but His goal is to save us with character that is the image of His own.
PATTERNS: Spirit –filled relationship with Jesus..Acts 3:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Acts
4:29-31 Now Lord look on their threats and grant to Your servants
that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand
to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy
Servant Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled
together was shaken; and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Boldness:
parrhesia (par-rah-see-ah) unreserved, freedom of speech with frankness,
candor, and cheerful courage. It is divine enablement that comes from the Holy
Spirit and not by man!
Jesus reminded them in John 8:31-32 this: Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word you are my disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
Abiding
in Jesus makes us free continually when we abide in Him continually. We are to know His word and repeat it in our speaking!
He was speaking that which you will know from Him as truth
is that which sets you free. It is abiding in His presences and makes one free.
It also represents that we stay within His boundary being active within that
pattern He has divinely produced. It does not happen in one moment but many
moments of our lives.
Our giving time to Him and His presence is a costly thing. It is an investment not to be taken lightly. Within God and His pattern for life is abiding, then pressing forward in that once given freedom through His son Jesus. Jesus did this all the way to the grave. He kept reaching out to His Father and in that Resurrection with great light would bring Him forth unto the new DAY! In that day of rest, we are new, living out in the light and truth of God and not by some word of a liberal!
If we can discipline ourselves to work at a job, then we certainly can discipline ourselves to be active in reading about, and pursuing Jesus. It is not “hey God, I will catch you up on my leisure time.”
Was thinking of the young woman who had been kidnapped at birth and raised by another woman. The whole of this young teen now is based on a lie. Even though she had seen what she thought was a good life, still all of it is based on the false which is a lie.
We start each day either that which is based on God and His
Word or of the other. If our lives are dealing with us in the middle, and the choice is only us then we have no hope. Our only hope is in Jesus Christ! Truly Jesus is the Son of God. Truly He has risen to give us life abundantly.
We have to understand
that, when we come to God, we are admitting to Him through repentance that our
salvation is not internal—it is not something we can produce. In the same vein,
the right way to live is not within us. It must come from outside, and that
"outside" is God. Thus, we ask God to direct our steps. At baptism,
we are asking God to make us into the image of Christ and to rid us of the
perversions of human nature that have produced this world.
Psalm 101:7 NKJV……He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.
That continue means: shall NOT BE ESTABLISHED…
Matthew
26:57-60 NKJV…………….57 And
those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest where
the scribes and the elders were assembled.
58 But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high Priest’s courtyard.
And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end. 59 Now the chief
priests, the elders and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to
put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came
forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward 61 and said,
“this fellow said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in
three days.” 62 and the high priest arose and said to Him, “do you answer
nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” 63 But Jesus kept silent.
And the high priest answered and said to Him, “ I put You under oath by the
living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” 64 Jesus said to
him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless; I say to you, hereafter you will see the
Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of
heaven.
Sacrificial love toward other people will be decreasing, but the real cause is that the relationship with God is cooling off. People want more sin and more freedom in that sin!
Matthew
24:9-13 NKJV 9 “Then they will deliver you up to
tribulation and kill you, and you will hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
10 “And then many will be offended, will betray one another and will hate one
another. 11 “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many 12 and
because lawlessness will abound, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he
who endures to the end shall be saved.
In Closing: Philippians 4:8 to think on that which is true and noble not fantasy…
Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things
are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are just, whatever things
are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy ----meditate on these
things.
Proverbs 25:19 instructs us, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint." Faithfulness always indicates a person who deals truthfully; he can be trusted. Yet, dealing with unfaithful people is usually painful because one never knows whether they will come through. Or if you truly will see them in your need. Thus, our evaluation of ourselves comes down to this question: How can God trust us if we are not striving to be honest now? More want to be entertained and the very thought of work is just terrible for them to handle.
Whatever may be going on in your neighborhood or community, Jesus and His Strength will be required. We must remain in Him and His peace to take the next step through a darkened path. He will set us on His straight and narrow and see we have all the light we need to get to end of days. His truth is every lasting!
Teaching at: Voice of Prayer
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