Bro Gary Sunday AM 2/13/11
We live in a day where there are lots of uncertainties. We want to remember that there are some definite certainties in the Word of God. It is easy to fall under a spirit of being skeptical or paranoid, “Can anyone go to heaven?” I talked to a professional man this week and was made so sad. He said that his dad was 95 years old and had been in the church world all his life and didn’t know if he was going to heaven or not.
John 1:12-14 KJVR
(12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
(13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
There is no other way to be saved but through Jesus Christ. When you come to Jesus Christ confessing and repenting from your sin, He gives you power to become the son’s of God.
Power means the privilege.
Romans 8:14 KJVR
(14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
There is a God in heaven; His son’s name is Jesus. It is not hard to think of being His disciples. Don’t choose your own way, “They that choose their own way God chooses their delusion.” (2 Thes 2:10,11) Today, not in a thousand years or a few years, today you can be the sons of God.
Philippians 2:14-15 KJVR
(14) Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
(15) That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
John had served God a long time. It is challenging to me. You can stay spiritually alert even to your grey hairs if you will be the sons of God from the first that He calls you until you die.
1 John 3:1 KJVR
(1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Let me talk of the love He bestowed upon us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth upon Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jn 3:16.
Jesus was with God the father in Heaven prior to His coming to us. God knew the price that it would take to buy us back from sin. Paul said, “I was the chief among sinners.” A lot of us feel the same way. Thank God Jesus came.
God looked down from heaven and realized that the world was lost and He made the supreme sacrifice for us that were destined to only be the sons of men. We all have natural roots; some may not know what their roots are, but we were all born sons of men. God had a design that we could be born again.
God designed that we could be the sons of God. He sent His only begotten son who was the son of God. He became the son of man so that you and I could be redeemed from a life of sin and become the sons of God.
1 John 3:1-2 KJVR
(1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
(2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God.”
Jesus prayed for everyone that would believe on His name that the Father would keep us. Then He asked that those that would believe on His name could be with Him and the Father where they were. (Jn 17:11)
“We shall be like Him; for we shall see him as he is.”
We each know that we are either going to face death or we will be alive when Jesus comes and return with Him in the air.
The only way to come to Jesus is to come as we are. Recognize that there is no use to blame anyone else. We are the ones that have sinned. Come as you are, confess and repent.
Other than what the Word of God speaks of heaven, we don’t know much about it. I’m not going to tell you how you and I are going to be in heaven; be a son of God and know beyond a shadow of doubt that when He appears we shall be like Him.
What He wants us to have is His character in our lives, the attributes of being born again.
“We shall see Him as He is.”
God wants you and me to look forward to seeing Jesus. He came so that you and I could be the sons of God.
1 John 3:3 KJVR
(3) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
When I came to Jesus, I had a very black heart with sin. When I came to Him and confessed and repented of my sin, immediately I began a journey. There were things in my life that needed to be washed away from me. I didn’t have good manners when I came to Jesus; I was rude, crude, and unacceptable. I had to have an attitude of “God whatever there is in me that needs to change, I want it to change.”
When you get saved, you must forgive others and let God wash all the bitterness away. You must also learn to forgive yourself.
Some relive their failures. I have a good friend that told me not long ago that every day he relived his past. If you are bound by your past then you will relive the same thing over and over again.
1 John 3:4-5 KJVR
(4) Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
(5) And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
We are blessed to know about Jesus and that He came to take away our sin.
1 John 3:6-8 KJVR
(6) Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
(7) Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
(8) He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:10 KJVR
(10) In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
The father bestowed great love in sending His only son so that we could be the sons of God.
Isaiah 49:13 KJVR
(13) Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
From Psalms 120 to Psalms 135 the Psalms are known as the songs of degrees. As they were going into worship they would sing these Psalms. David says, “In my distress, I cried unto the Lord and He heard me.”
In my difficult… When the sons of God are in distress and cry unto Him, He hears. In my sickness… There are times when you are afflicted; it is good to know that God hears your prayer. In my sore trial… Trials are a part of life. “The trying of your faith works patience.” (James 1:2-4) The reason you are in a trial is because God wants you to have more faith.
Sometimes the distress we’re in can be compared to walking when you have a pebble in your shoe. Until you get that shoe off and the pebble out there is no comfort in walking. Sometimes the pebble in your shoe is a heavy heart.
Sometimes when the prayer request comes in for Bro Brook, it is not a pebble of discomfort, it is the thought of “God keep the pebble there so that I will remember to pray for him.”
David said, “In my distress I called upon God and He heard me.” (Ps 120:1)
In your anguish, in your acute distress, “Lift up your eyes…”
Isaiah 49:13 KJVR
(13) Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
Isaiah 49:15 KJVR
(15) Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Some children are forgotten by their mothers, but God said, “They may forget; I will not forget thee.”
Isaiah 49:16 KJVR
(16) Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
God is so big that even His palm cannot be measured, yet He is small enough that He can live in our hearts.
“Thy walls are continually before me.”
We’re on His palms and then protected by a hedge of protection that is always before Him. None of us are smart enough to outsmart whoever is trying to outsmart us. Don’t make your mind feeble over it. Know God and hear His voice and when he says, “Don’t open the door”, then don’t open the door.
His walls are around us.
John 1:12 KJVR
(12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
1 John 3:1 KJVR
(1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
America idolizes youth, that’s ok if you are between 13 and 29. The bible isn’t that way. Whatever age you are, you can be called the son of God.
If you are loved, thank those that love you this morning. We are so blessed to be loved by God.
1 John 3:2 KJVR
(2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Thank God to be a son of God this morning. If you are here and have always wanted to belong to God, He sent his son so that you could be the son of God.
Hymn: Just As I Am
“Just As I Am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me and that Thou biddest me come to Thee, Oh Lamb of God I come, I come.”
Charlotte Eliot wrote this song. She was a young lady in her thirties that had enjoyed some popularity on stage. Her health left her and she was left an invalid, wasting away at home. An evangelist passed through and heard of Charlotte and asked to see her. He began to tell her of how Jesus was sent to earth to become the son of man so that we could be the sons of God. She asked, “How can I possible come to Him?” He told her that there was only one way to come, and that is just as you are.
No excuses, no blaming someone else, no trying to be something that you are not, come just as you are.
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