A. Today, I want to spend a few minutes thinking about the difference that God has made in our lives.
1. We’ve all seen “before and after” pictures used in advertising.
2. For instance, here’s a typical picture of a guy who needed a little help with his hair loss.
3. Here’s a picture of a lady who has gotten amazing results from some kind of skin care product.
4. This is an interesting picture of students at Purdue University who are in the drama department and have used make up to age themselves. How will you and I look 30 years from now? Could be scary!
5. Here’s a picture of a guy you probably recognize. It’s Jared Fogle. He’s the guy who lost the huge amount of weight eating only Subway sandwiches. His little experiment has not only made him thinner, it has made him richer!
6. My final picture is just for fun. It’s the before and after picture of some cute dogs after taking a bath. Wet dogs look like drowned rats, don’t they?
B. I think we’ve all come to realize that most of the “before and after” pictures we see are not realistic and sometimes they are fake or false.
1. Whether it’s ads for weight-loss products, exercise programs, or hair replacement procedures, most people’s results are less than was advertised.
2. Usually somewhere in the fine print is a qualifying statement that says, “Results may vary.”
3. In some cases, the results vary because the product or program is not very good or helpful, and regardless of how faithfully or how much effort is expended, there is no improvement.
4. In other cases, the product or program is fine, but the person using the product or program doesn’t follow through with it.
C. Now let’s turn our attention to the Christian life and the effect of God’s power and work in our lives.
1. Using the same language we have been using, there is no doubt that the “product” and the “program” are the very best.
2. God is all-powerful, and all-knowing, and perfect.
3. As Paul put it in Ephesians 3:21, “God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.”
4. So, when there is a breakdown in our Christians lives and a failure to experience the best results, it is not God’s fault, but our own.
5. But to get the best results, so to speak, we have to work with God and work God’s program according to God’s plan and principles.
6. And so, when we do our part and God does His part, then we experience the kind of transforming results that are promised.
D. Today, what I want to do is to encourage us by the promises and possibilities that God has given.
1. Rather than discourage us by our own failures or the failures of people in the Bible, I want us to be encouraged by the difference that God has made in our lives and in the lives of people in Scripture.
2. So, let’s look at a two before and after pictures of people in the Bible.
I. Picture #1 – Mary Magdalene
A. The most prominent of the women who accompanied Jesus is Mary Magdalene.
1. She is named in all four Gospels as a witness to Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
2. She came from Magdala, a town located on the Sea of Galilee, just north of Tiberius.
3. Mary Magdalene and several other women had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.
4. Luke tells us in Luke 8:2 that Mary had had seven demons exercised from her.
5. But these three ladies mentioned in Luke 8, including Mary, were women of some wealth and were able to provide for Jesus and the 12 apostles “out of their own means.” (Lk. 8:3)
B. Many over the years have identified Mary Magdalene as the “woman who had lived a sinful life” (Lk. 7:37), a sinner who came to Jesus while he was dining at the home of a Pharisee and anointed his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
1. But since Luke does not give the name of the woman in that story at the end of Luke 7, and then introduces Mary Magdalene almost immediately at the beginning of Luke 8, is it not likely that he considered them to be the same person.
2. A more plausible conclusion is that Mary Magdalene was a person of means and as a companion of the wife of Herod’s steward, was a woman of high social status and not the prostitute she was said to have been.
C. But even though Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute with little means, she still needed Spiritual transformation.
1. She may have been a wealthy self-absorbed woman, and she certainly was one who had somehow come under the control of seven demons.
2. We don’t know what kind of negative influence those demons were having in her life, but she certainly must have needed to be liberated.
3. All we can conclude is that at some point Jesus came into Mary’s life, cast out the demons, and she became a devoted follower.
4. From that point forward, she financially supported the cause, and she was faithful to stand by Jesus during his crucifixion, burial and was the first to see him resurrected.
5. Mary Magdalene – before and after – what a pretty picture! Amen!
6. I certainly wish we had more information, but that’s all we know.
II. Picture #2 – Simon Peter
A. Peter is another beautiful picture of a life transformed by God
1. We are introduced to him as a redneck fisherman.
2. He was the kind of guy who knew everything. You couldn’t teach him anything.
3. He even argued with the Lord about Jesus dying - Mk. 8:31-33
a. “It will never happen.. not as long as I’m around!” Jesus told him, “Get behind me Satan!”
4. He bragged that he wouldn’t forsake Jesus if everyone else did - Mk.14:29-31
a. Jesus said, “Here’s what is going to happen… You will all fall away.”
b. Peter said, “I won’t.” Jesus said, “Yes you will.” Peter said, “No I won’t.”
B. In many respects, the Lord has to “break us” from our “Before,” before He can “make us” into our “After.”
1. Some of us take more “breaking” than others, right?
2. Saul of Tarsus had to be knocked to his knees on a Damascus road.
3. Peter had to have all his arrogance and self-confidence stripped away.
C. Jesus invested a lot of time and energy into Peter in preparing him for becoming the man he wanted him to be…Months and years of teaching, instructing and training.
1. But the real transition and transformation for Peter came…
a. After the bragging.
b. After the denial.
c. After Jesus turned and looked straight at him (Luke 22:61) and the rooster crowed and Peter remembered Jesus’ words, “You will deny me three times.”
2. The important change in Peter’s life came a few days after the resurrection.
a. Early one morning, by a fire on the shore of the sea of Galilee. Jesus made them breakfast.
b. No one said a word until Jesus singled him out and said, “Peter, do you love me?” Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” (John 21:15)
c. THREE TIMES he asked him!
d. The third time, John wrote, “Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’” (Jn. 21:17b)
e. Peter said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
f. There is a word play going on here. Jesus keeps asking Peter if he loves him using the word agape, which is the highest word for love in the Greek language (unconditional love).
g. Peter replies each time with the word phileo, which is the Greek word for the love of friendship (which is still a certainly good word).
h. It’s as if Peter couldn’t bring himself to used the highest word for love, since he had failed so miserably.
i. The third time Jesus asked the question, he switched to the word for friendship, and Peter replied in kind.
3. But in spite of all that had happened, in spite of the fact that Peter had failed, Jesus still wanted Peter, and still wanted Peter to be a leader in the kingdom.
a. So Jesus kept telling him, “FEED MY SHEEP.”
b. It is as if Jesus wanted to give Peter the chance to make up for his three denials by giving three affirmations.
D. As I’m sure you know, Peter rose to the occasion.
1. He preached the first Gospel sermon on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
2. He was faithful, not perfect (you remember Paul had to confront him on one occasion), as a church leader the rest of his days.
Conclusion:
A. The “before and after” pictures in our lives are continually changing, and hopefully for the better.
1. If you are like me, then you can pinpoint a number of significant moments in your spiritual journey.
2. For many of us there was the moment of our baptism when we crossed over from spiritual death to spiritual life.
3. But since then there have likely been numerous ups and downs.
4. Times of spiritual highs and spiritual lows.
5. Times of spiritual victory and spiritual defeat.
6. But hopefully the ups are higher and the downs are not as low as we mature in Christ.
B. The amazing and wonderful thing is that God continues to love us and offer the grace we need along the way.
1. With Peter, Jesus didn’t treat him like he deserved to be treated. - THAT’S MERCY!
2. Jesus gave him something he didn’t deserve - THAT’S GRACE!
3. Can you see how God’s mercy and grace can and should motivate us?
C. What we hope to see happening in each of our lives as we move forward in Christ, is the on-going denial and death of self.
1. Paul describes the reality of this process in Galatians 2:20- “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
2. If you are like me, then the challenge we face is that the old man, the dead one, keeps coming back to life.
3. The Christian life is an on-going effort of setting our minds on and clothing ourselves with the right things, and putting off and crucifying the wrong things.
4. This is what Paul was talking to the Colossians about in Colossians 3:1ff,
a. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (3:1-3)
b. “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.” (3:5-7)
c. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”(3:12-14)
5. In that passage we see the reality of and the process of “before and after.”
a. For most of us, we aren’t what we used to be. We are much better in Christ than we were before we were in Christ.
b. And yet, for all of us, we aren’t what we ought to be. We’ve come a long way, baby, but there is still a long way to go. Right?
c. We can’t become what we ought to be without God’s help - His power at work in us through His Spirit that empowers us.
d. But God’s power will not take effect in our lives without our authorization and our application.
e. We can’t just sit back and ask God to do it all for us. “Fix us God. Change us God.”
f. No, we have to ask God to do those things while we are engaged with God in spiritual activity – repentance, confession, study, prayer, fellowship, and service.
g. As we work these spiritual muscles and plug into God, then the transformation we desire will manifest itself.
D. So, as we come out of Summer and head into Fall, I want to encourage us to make an assessment of where we are spiritually.
1. How is our “before and after” picture looking?
2. In what areas of our life do we need to make greater spiritual progress?
3. What spiritual activities do we need to give more attention to that will lead to transformation?
4. This Fall is a great time to get back into…
a. the disciples of daily Bible reading and prayer.
b. participation in worship, Bible study, and small groups.
c. service – outreach, children’s and teen ministry, looking after our shut-ins and sick, phone- calling, letter-writing, support of new Christians, benevolence and hospitality. The opportunities are endless.
5. God has gifted us in so many different ways and everyone’s gifts and efforts are needed.
a. There are no parts of the body that are unnecessary.
E. To God be the praise and glory for all of this!
1. May He be glorified in our individual lives.
2. May He be glorified in the church as a whole.
3. He makes all things possible!
a. Jesus said, “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Mk. 10:27)
b. Paul said, “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)
4. Join me in becoming all that God wants us to be!
I borrowed some things from a sermon by Ken Stegall called, “Before and After.”
