On
Friday morning I was driving out to the Bible college in Murietta
– to teach for whole school. A)Cool seeing so many kids
from
B) When I was on I-15: There
was a Maroon Mercedes in front of me – License plates that read – PM WIFE
C) England: Prime Minister’s
Wife
1) Perfect Mom and wife!
2) Professional mother and
wife.
D) PM – Night – Wife at
night – super woman by day.
1) Tylenol Pm - Headache wife.
It
is funny what people put on their cars – Message they want to send. Typical
plate for many in CA
A)Attitudz
B)Fonzy
in
1) Typical New Yorker –
C) Power in words: On Mon. & Tuesday this week I was
teaching up in
1)
On Tues before catching my flight back down here- one of the guys in the Church
took me golfing. 9 holes
D)
We were joined by a great big firefighter from West Sac – Jeff
1)
Jeff was about 6’5 – 300 lbs – sweat guy with a sweat swing
Fire fighter Motto
Risk nothing for a loser – a
house that is going down
Risk a little for property.
Risk everything for life.
I was thinking
about those words going home – and I thought so many today have it all
backwards
A)They are risking
everything for a loser – the Bible says the things in this world are going to
burn with a fervent heat.
B) And yet people poor their
whole lives/ all their time and energy on things – that are not going to last
1) Can’t take with them –
Houses cars / possessions
C) The pursuit / the upkeep
/ the time invested in those things COSUME So many people.
D) And life gets neglected –
Kids get neglected / marriages get neglected /
1) People who don’t know
Jesus get neglected.
Jesus
would have agreed with Jeff’s fire fighter motto!
A)John Ch. 6 He is trying to
get the people he is talking to to see past the
temporal and focus on the eternal
B)
Realize they are Hungering for the bread of life – that is the only thing that
is going to satisfy them.
1)
The real longing is going to be found in a relationship with Him
C) That is the bread that
last – Eating of Him – allowing Him to be integrated into every aspect of their
lives.
D) This particular message
became a turning point for many who were following Jesus at that time.
66 From that
time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
E) They were not ready for
that type of a Commitment! { They Left!
1) They wanted a free lunch
– but not a surrender.
C. S. Lewis gives a
remarkable illustration from his own life of what the attitude is of many who
hear the gospel:
When
I was a child I often had toothache, and I knew that if I went to my mother she
would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me
get to sleep.
But
I did not go to my mother-at least, not till the pain became very bad.
And
the reason I did not go was this. I did not doubt she would give me the
aspirin: but I knew she would also do something else.
I
knew she would take me to the dentist next morning. I could not get what I
wanted out of her without getting something more, which I did not want.
I
wanted immediate relief from pain: but I could not get it without having my
teeth set permanently right.
Jesus
is not interested in being a temporal remedy in your life. He wants to be a
vital part of your life.
A)Well at this point Jesus
turns to the 12 asks – V.67
67 Then Jesus
said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"
68 But Simon
Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God."
B) This was a powerful
Proclamation of Peter- Where else would we go -You have the words of eternal
life. Words that bring life.
C)
This is a powerful pronouncement that Peter makes here – Lord we have no where
else to go! -
1)
Implied that they considered their options – found that nothing compared to
Jesus.
D) In you are the words of
eternal life! Words that lead to real living !
E) In the rest of our time today I want to do
two things:
#1 I want to
consider the words of Jesus – what was said about His words
#2
I want to take a closer look at this statement from Peter.
The words of Jesus!
1)His words are
gracious!
“ So all bore witness
to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.”
A)Literally, the people said
that Jesus’ words were full of grace.
B)gracious words—“the words of
grace,” referring both to the richness of His matter and the sweetness of His manner (Psalm 45:2).
C) Words full of grace
depict words that are uplifting / encouraging
The
words of Jesus stood in stark contrast to the words of the religious leaders of
the day who’s word were so filled condemnation.
A)The religious
leaders of the day – were so good at pointing out to people what was wrong –
how they were violating the law!
B) They often
presented God as being angry and disappointed with people.
C)
Jesus was just the opposite- Not that Jesus shied away from pointing out
problems - But He also focused on the
answer
1) The answer was found –in what God wanted to do for them rather
than what they needed to do for God.
D) Watch out for
teaching that is always focused on what you need to do for God! Pharisees
E) So first of
all the words of Jesus were Full of grace!
2) His words
are astonishing.
28 And so it
was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His
teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the
scribes.
I was once preaching in
Then I discovered that they
use Brilliant the way we use the word good.
In other words they were just being nice!
That wasn’t the case here
with Jesus – They were astonished – they were amazed!
A)The
word astonished or amazed – literally meant to be struck in the mind of being
astounded or beside oneself.
B)The response was after
listening to Jesus give the sermon on the MT.
C)The crowd was totally dumbfounded by the power of what Jesus said.
1) They
had never heard such comprehensive, insightful words of wisdom, depth, and
insight.
D)They had never heard such
straightforward and fearless denunciation of the scribes and
E)They had never heard such
a fearful warning about the consequences of turning away from God.
1)They
had never heard such a powerful and demanding description of true righteousness
But
the most remarkable thing that struck the audience that day was He spoke w/
Authority
A)Authority (exousia) has to do with power and
privilege, in the New Testament it is used for the power that proves and
reflects the sovereignty of Jesus.
B)The scribes quoted others to lend
authority to their teachings, but Jesus quoted only God’s Word and spoke as the
final authority on truth.
C)He
spoke eternal truth simply, directly, w/ love (in contrast to the condemning
nature of the Pharisees),
1)That
astounded the crowd.
D) We will see later in
1) When questioned –- Where
is He ? –They answered
3) His words are Spiritual.
A)His words are spiritual –
meaning that they can only be spiritual discerned
B) Paul contrasted the
natural man from the spiritual man in
“These things
we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy
Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural
man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
C) The things of the spirit
– the things that are eternal are not going to make sense to the natural man –
because he is focused on the natural
1)
Focused on this life / focused on things
here/ him
D) He is pretty one
dimensional –
But
the Spiritual man is Multi dimensional – concerned about this world His life
here –
A) But He is also thinking
about the Kingdom which is to Come.
B)He views life in light of
eternity! – Sets his priorities in light of eternity
1) Sees people in light of
eternity!
C) The natural man doesn’t
understand when a Christian man – leaves a high paying Job – to go into the
ministry for ½ that pay
1)
Or to go out onto the mission field for even less – it seems stupid idiotic
But the Spiritual man gets
–it – He understands – Living for a different reward.
A)Jesus words were spiritual
– expresses the need to be born again – born of the spirit to comprehend them.
B) But once a man is born again he begins to
think in a new dimension
4) His words brought life.
A)Words of death vs words of life!
B)
C) Words that result in
eternal life.
D)
Words that result in everlasting living!
1) Jews view of eternal life
– was not just speaking of a longevity of life but also a quality of life. –
E) Peter was declaring –
There is no where else to go to obtain / experience the quality of life we have
found in following You.
Consider
now this statement of Peter – where else would we go? –
A)What were his options –
what were some of the words and ideas that were floating around in Jesus day:
Popular Philosophies?
B) Roman Hedonism : Where
the focus was on the care of self
1)
Pursue pleasure above all else and sexuality was rampant
C) Wives mistresses /
Homosexuality was all rampant in
1) Sex Slaves male and
female – young kids
That
was the mentality that was rampant at the time of Christ when
A) Peter looked at that –
that is not desirable
There is no life in that !
B)That is not the quality of
life we are searching for.
C)
HOLLYWOOD! So miserable / empty – lives always falling apart
1) Mentality of
D) But most of us have come
to discover the emptiness in that!
E) Parties are fun /
miserable the next day
1) Emptiness is back –
sometimes stronger
MASK the emptiness
At
the opposite ends of the spectrum were the
Religious sects – 2 most Popular – Pharisees –
A)They were
the legalist the religionist of the day.
B) Living by
the letter of the law
C) That was
frustrating – Paul declared no life in that only condemnation
D) Never be
good enough!
Sadducees – No miracles – no Rez
A)Hopeless
religion { Best life here
B) Peter saw
in Jesus the perfect blending of the two
Not religion but
relationship{ Future Hope
Then there were the Popular greek Philosophies
Stoicism The Stoics thought that the whole universe was a divine being, and that
the gods were simply various names of the one cosmic God.
They
believed that virtue was living in harmony with the rational force of nature.
To
find peace of mind, the Stoics said, people should learn what is in their power
and what isn't, and should concern themselves only with the things in their
power.
The
Stoics concluded that people had the power to live in harmony with the cosmic
God, which they called virtue.
Today’s version of the New
age movement –
Finding the God with in!
Shirley Mclaine
– You are god – There is a God – and you are not Him
Gnosticism: The word Gnostic
comes from the Greek word gnosis which means “to know”
A)
Now an Agnostic is one who does not know/ they would say that there could be a God who is behind the
purpose and design of the Universe,
B) but that is something that we can’t know.
B) It’s knowledge
that it beyond us. The
Gnostic were just the opposite, they would say we do know!! In fact we know WHAT you don’t
know.
C)
Part of their goal was to merge certain philosophical views with the Christian
faith.
D) A
believe system in which knowledge is the ultimate and redemption is from
ignorance, not from sin.
Gnosticism
simplified believed: “the spirit alone was good/matter was essentially evil!”
A)Now
their thinking about all “matter” being evil also affected their ethical
approach to life/ but there they were divided into 2 camps
B) One camp suggested: If our bodies were evil
then: practice a rigid Asceticism(self denial –
starve, beat, & deny the body)
C) The
other camp took the opposite view: They said
practice a “loose life” of Antinomianism(Living apart from the law)
D)
So If the body was evil, it didn’t matter what you did to it, the spirit was
all that mattered.{ So live it up !!!!
Now today: Religions like
Christian Science and Scientology – trace their views back to some of these greek Philosophies -
Scientology is a religion that sees all human beings as immortal spirits (thetans) who have forgotten their identity and become
deceived by the very universe they mentally emanated in order to amuse
themselves. Scientology claims it can free the thetan to realize his or her true nature and powers through
certain procedures that heal the mind and free the spirit.
Scientology is focused around correcting the
“errors” of the mind. The auditing process seeks to trigger and then erase all
the erroneous beliefs that the
reactive mind is holding onto.
It might very
well be described as “un-hypnotizing” oneself and freeing oneself from
automatic responses. Once the reactive mind is made “clear” the analytic mind
is free to use an ever-greater portion of it’s potential power.
Mind over
Matter –
Christian Science teaches that man does not
have a sinful nature but is a reflection of Divine Mind. To achieve "salvation,"
he needs only to find the true reality of understanding, deeper Knowledge which
they say is revealed in Christian
Science teachings.
It is Gnosticism revisited.
Kabbalah-
similar ideas – ancient form of Judiasm developed by
ancient rabbi’s –
A)Emphasis is on
enlightenment – deeper Knowledge
B) Man can better Himself!
C) The Bible teaches that
although man might be able to become smarter / more enlightened
1) More religious – Better his
environment
D) There is one
thing that He cannot do- that is change the fact that he is sinner –
1) Sin separates Him from God –
Dooms him to an eternity apart from God
E) Jesus is the remedy. { He is the answer REZ
1) A work that
begins on the inside – the heart that affects life on the outside.
Fire fighter Motto
Risk nothing for a loser – a
house that is going down
Risk a little for property.
Risk everything for life.
Jesus did that
for You!