Sermon Brief
Date Written: March 4, 2010
Date Preached: March 7, 2010
Where Preached: Oak Park (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: The Great Adventure – Rediscovering the Adventure
Sermon Title: Are You Spiritually Insecure? Part 5 of 6
Sermon Text: Luke 22:54-62; John 21:15-17; John 14:12
John 14:12 [ESV]
12"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do…
Introduction:
Do you feel spiritually INsecure today? Have you ever questioned your salvation? Have you ever thought that God could NOT use you because you have sinned and you no longer feel worthy to be used by God? Have you asked God to forgive you but cannot seem to forgive yourself or forget the sin God has already forgiven?
I find that many believers today fall into this insidious cage of guilt and they believe that God cannot use them because of their past or some recent sin in their lives. Well, I am here to tell you that God can use ANYONE… God forgives and uses us, but only when we accept that forgiveness and move beyond our past failures can God use us…
How many in here remember Peter… Peter had some pretty memorable moments with Jesus didn’t he? We know by reading through the Gospels that Peter was someone special, but we also know that Peter was human and was flawed just like you or me...
When we read Scripture we see that Peter was the 1st disciple called by Jesus…
Mark 1:16-18 [ESV]
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
We can also see how Peter was part of an inner circle that Jesus trusted and mentored.
Matt 17:1-2 [ESV]
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Peter was not afraid to ‘get out of the boat’ he actions within the group were actions of one who fully trusted Jesus…
Matt 14:28-29 [ESV]
28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Peter was the one who was willing to speak up…He proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God…
Matt 16:15-16 [ESV]
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
But sometimes Peter’s willingness to speak up got him into some hot water…
Matt 16:22-23 [ESV]
22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.".
My point is simple this morning, I use Peter as an example of one called by God, who was part of God’s plan, who served God with zeal, but also who was human, had faults and frailties and even allowed himself to be overwhelmed by the situation at hand.
Peter was a man called by God, set aside by God and we find in these verses that Peter fell FLAT when the chips were down…
Luke 22:54-62 [ESV]
54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. 55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, "This man also was with him." 57 But he denied it, saying, "Woman, I do not know him." 58 And a little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not." 59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, "Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean." 60 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
We know that Peter became a man racked with guilt, a man overwhelmed by his sense of failure to God. God had called him, taught him, mentored him, and trained him, but when Jesus needed him to be strong…Peter failed MISERABLY!
And we know that Peter stopped what he was doing after Jesus was crucified and went back to fishing… Peter did not believe that God could use him anymore because of how he had failed Christ in that hour of need!
Let me ask you a question this morning. Have you ever failed God? Have you ever sinned against the One who has brought you salvation and forgiveness? I don’t need to see a show of hands because we ALL have been there, haven’t we? Scripture tells us that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and perfection…
If you live and breathe… you are part of the human condition and you are a sinner! But preacher, I don’t like to hear that… I don’t like to hear that I am a sinner! I try my best, I do what I think is right, I come to church, I give to the offering…
What many people fail to understand is that when we become Christians, it does NOT mean that we will never sin again… we will sin and fail God many times! In fact on a daily basis we will disappoint God, and the Enemy is going to use that sin in our lives… he is going to use that failure in our walk with Christ against us!
Now when we sin as believers we have 2 choices. We can try to excuse it and cover it up and act like it isn’t there… OR we can confess our sin to God and ask Him to forgive us. Scripture tells us plainly in 1 John 1:9 [ESV]
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So when we look at sin there is really 2 kinds of sin, there is confessed sin, which God has promised to forgive and wipe away, and then there is UNconfessed sin which remains a stain on our soul.
Now when we sin, the Holy Spirit comes and convicts our hearts of that sin, and that is supposed to lead us to confession of our sin, which leads to forgiveness and cleansing. When the Holy Spirit comes in and convicts us of our sin, He overwhelms us with a spiritual guilt that drives us to our knees in prayer and confession. That is a GOOD guilt!
However, when God forgives our sin, He wipes it away as if it never existed and we are totally cleansed. But the Enemy will use our sin against us…even the sin that God has forgiven to trap us in a cage of guilt that will cause us to NOT serve God as He desires us to serve Him.
My example today of Peter is an example of a holy guilt or conviction in a man’s life that drove Him to Christ. We know that in John 21 Jesus came to Peter and forgives Peter for his sinful betrayal, and Peter moved on and Peter became a great leader in the early church…
But I want to pose a question to you… for the rest of his life, what do you think Peter thought every time he heard a rooster crow? Do you think he thought about that terrible night when he fail Jesus and turned his back on God? OR do you think that Peter thought about that wonderful morning when Jesus renewed Peter’s life and forgiveness cleansed his heart?
I know that when I sin, I know that God has promised forgiveness and I believe He does forgive me, but I also know that I am terrible about letting that sin go… I hold onto that sin and allow the guilt over that sin to trap me and deter me from serving God! God forgives AND forgets… we tend to hang onto things and we don’t forget!
I know that there are situations and circumstances that present themselves to me on a daily basis that remind me of my own sin… and if I were to let it, it would consume me and overwhelm my walk with Christ! Satan uses that memory of the guilt of sin on our part to keep us trapped in a cage of guilt that prevents us from serving God as He wants us to serve!
This happens when we allow the Enemy to use what I would call a false guilt or conviction over our past sin… to trap us in a place where God cannot use us! Have you ever been down that road?
This morning my message is simple… We are ALL sinful and we ALL sin, and that sin separates us from God. Sin in the life of the believer clouds his or her relationship and muffles the sound of God’s voice in their lives. Sin raises a barrier over which we cannot go to serve God where He wants us to serve… sin is a terrible thing!
You may say that you are a good person; you may truly believe that you can just be ‘good’ and make it to heaven. I would love to believe that… it would make things so much easier here in this world. But that is NOT what Scripture says… getting to heaven and being a part of God’s kingdom is not about human goodness, but it is all about God’s grace and forgiveness.
You say you are good, but let’s put that to the test, using the 10 commandments. Have you ever told a little white lie? Have you ever lied at all…even ONCE? I beliv we ALL can answer that question YES! Well if you have ever lied, even one time, you have broken the 9th commandment…
Here’s another one, have you ever taken anything that was not yours? It doesn’t matter what it is… how valuable it is… or how long ago it happened… have you ever taken something that was not yours? If so you have stolen… and you have broken the 8th commandment…
Well preacher, I may have taken a pen or told a little white lie, but I have never cheated on my wife and I have never murdered anyone… That has to count for something!
Well Jesus said that if you look at a woman with lust in your heart that you are just as guilty as if you had committed physical adultery. Jesus also tells us that if you hate your brother, and hate covers a great deal of things… if you hate your brother you are just as guilty of murder as someone who has actually killed another person.
Now I don’t know about you, but ALL of these things touch my life! I am confident that they all touch your lives as well. If we think we can live without sin we are just fooling ourselves! We are sinners, and the best we have to offer God is filthy rags!
When we sin we are convicted by the Holy Spirit. The HS is sent by God to convict the world of sin… ALL are convicted by the HS, and all are made aware of their sin by the HS. When we come to know Christ as Savior, we find grace and forgiveness!
This morning you may be here for many reasons… but God wants you here to surrender to Him. If you have sin in your life God desires you to confess that sin and He has promised to forgive that sin…
Scripture tells us that the forgiveness of sin is possible because Jesus gave Himself on the Cross. Jesus allowed His body to be broken and killed… FOR YOU! Jesus shed His precious blood on the Cross of Calvary for the forgiveness of YOUR SIN! Jesus died on the Cross so that you can know forgiveness!
Jesus gave to US what we could not obtain… God provided for us what we could never earn! Scripture tells us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not die but have EVERLASTING/ETERNAL life.”
God’s love is why we can celebrate salvation today! God’s mercy and grace flow out from His love and they have provided the forgiveness we need to stand before God blameless and holy.
As the deacons come fwd to help serve our Lord’s Supper meal… This morning I want you to listen to a song by our choir – PRAY HERE, then choir will sing!
CHOIR TO SING – “HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE” HERE…
AFTER 1st element is passed out, say – When they had gathered together in the upper room on the night before Jesus was crucified. Jesus called His disciples together and said, “… this is my body which is given to be broken FOR you, do this in remembrance of Me…”
HAVE THE DEACONS SIT DOWN AT THIS TIME…
Jesus came to this world to give His body to be broken for you. He came to provide a way of forgiveness of your sin and to cleanse you from your sin nature. Jesus came so that you may know salvation and eternal life!
When we come to know Christ as Savior, we must realize that we can confess our sin at ANYTIME to Him and when He knows your heart is genuine, He is going to forgive you of that sin! But the enemy won’t forget, and Satan will continue to hassle and hinder their walk… by using guilt and guilty feelings and feelings of paranoia about what is in your past!
This cage of guilt Satan attempts to put you in, is a cage of insidious guilt that drowns out the forgiving heart of God. It places undue and false guilt onto the believer. Today you can lay that aside… today you can be more like Jesus in surrendering your heart to God!
As our deacons pass out the final element of the Lord’s Supper this morning I want to share with you that forgiveness is a promise… forgiveness can be yours… but for you to be forgiven, you have to look deep within yourself and confess the sin in your heart and life… confess it to God and ask Him to forgive you and He has promised that He will!
CHOIR TO SING: “IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME” HERE…
AFTER 2nd element is passed out, say – When they had taken of the bread, Jesus once again gathered their attention and said, “This cup represents my blood which is shed for the forgiveness of sin…do this in remembrance of ME!”
Today you have seen a biblical example of someone who failed God on a LARGE scale… PETER! But you have also seen how God forgives those who come to Him and accept His mercy and grace and forgiveness.
God wants to forgive you this morning! It is God’s desire that NO ONE perish because of sin in their lives, God wants us all to come to Him in repentance so that He can cleanse us and so that He can save us…
You may be here this morning feeling guilty… beating yourself up about how you have acted and what you have done in your past! You may think that you are FAR beyond help… you may think that God cannot use someone like you! But what I am here to tell you is GOOD NEWS!
Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost… to seek and to save those who needed forgiveness! Let me ask you a question. Do you try to get better on your own before you go to the doctor? Let’s say you broke your arm today, would you try to doctor your arm and make it better BEFORE you went to the hospital?
Just like you would NEVER try to fix your broken arm before you went to the doctor…you cannot try to ‘fix’ your life before you come to Jesus! It doesn’t matter what you have done… it doesn’t matter where you have been… it doesn’t matter who you are… it doesn’t matter what the world thinks about you…
Come to Jesus today, confess your sin to Him today and Jesus will forgive you and save you from your life of sin and give you eternal life with Him in heaven and an abundant exciting life here in this world! Are you ready to give your heart to Him today?
If you are here today and you know Christ as your Savior, I don’t want you to let the enemy use false guilt to hold you captive! He will try to deceive you into thinking that God cannot use you because of your past… because of the sin you have committed!
So often, we lose sight of how Great God is… we lose sight of how mighty He is! We take Him for granted… and we forget about WHO He is! God is Holy... but God loves us enough to cleanse us and offer holiness to us as well… our actions in this world though tend to put God on a shelf… My prayer is that we will see God for WHO He is… for WHAT He can do for us… and that we begin living as He has called us to live!
