In this sermon, Pastor Jim moves on to the second of the petitions focused on us, the believer; the petition for the forgiveness of sins. He notes how it is connected to the previous petition through the only use of ‘and’ in the petitions. He then goes on to explore the conditional linkage between our forgiveness and our forgiveness of others, the two primary concepts of our forgiveness, and the attributes of God’s forgiveness that should be present in how we forgive others.
Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
New Testament
Heaven. The Bible doesn’t give us a lot of detail about heaven, but what we know thrills the soul. In the Revelation, the Apostle John describes some of the characteristics of this promised land for believers (Revelation 21:1-4). Yes, heaven is going to be an incredible place, but I want us to think about heaven today, not in the direction of a place we are going, but to a Person we will see.
I know today’s theme has obvious answers. We have responsibilities that won’t allow us to simply pull up the covers and snuggle in for a long winter’s day of sleep. In today’s scripture, there are two spiritual truths which will energize and motivate us to get out of bed and into our day with eternal purpose: the love of Christ and our union in Christ. These two truths enable us to start each day, no matter the season, with joy, purpose, and a rejoicing heart.
A couple of things happen in the Christian life as one grows older and deeper in the Lord. These things are signs of spiritual maturity. The first one is we grow humble and realize how little we know of the Christian life. A second sign of growing mature in the Lord is taken from Jesus’ example in responding to Pilate’s accusations and applied to the amount of talk we do. Take a journey back in our Christian lives. Did conversations occur when we should have listened more and talked less?
Once we experience new birth in Christ, we begin the process of growing in Christ; a growth in grace and knowledge of Him. This process is what theologians call “sanctification”. As it unfolds, we learn this is a cooperative work with the Lord. We may pray and pray and pray, even beg God to help us know and grow in Him but nothing happens without our effort. It has been said concerning spiritual progress and service, “Work as if it all depends on us and trust as if it all depends on God.”
How would you answer today’s nugget theme? You may respond along these lines; “My greatest privilege in life is being a Christian” or “My greatest privilege in life is knowing God.” And those are great Biblical answers, but I want us to go a little deeper. We may easily say, “My greatest privilege in life is being a Christian” and actually not be exercising that privilege. That isn’t a critical judgment. It is an assessment based on what Jesus said concerning end times, “And because lawlessness (sin) will be increased the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). All genuine Christians fight the battle to maintain first love for Jesus. There is a reason why the Christian life is called a “fight, a race, the narrow way, and difficult”.