Psalm 112:1-9 (10), Matthew 5:13-20, 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
In a few weeks, I am going to have a birthday, but it is not what you think. On March 17th, I will be 15 years old. Now, looking at the gray hair and remembering that you all threw me a 40th birthday party last year, you might be scratching your heads and looking at me kind of funny. But it is true. That was the day, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior.
Most of you know my story. Fifteen months later, I was a pastor of youth and children in Akron. From sinner to saint to servant of God in fifteen months is pretty quick, but I know that God can do that sort of thing when we get out of his way and let him work. As I have shared before, I kind of grew up in the Church, going to Sunday school and Wednesday night children’s programs when I was 9, 10, 11, 12 years old. But I left the church in my early teens.
Why? You would have figured that in those years, I might have learned a few things about God, and I did. I knew that he was powerful and performed miracles. I knew that he was loving and good. I also knew that I really didn’t want to go to church on Sunday mornings. Despite what I had learned about God, I really didn’t know him. Don’t get me wrong. The people in the church were great and loving toward me. God was working on me, and I could feel something stirring in me. But I didn’t understand it, and I just didn’t know him.
I pretty much broke off all ties with the church in my early teenish years, and did not go back until I was 26. That first Sunday back, I knew I was in trouble. I cannot remember anything the preacher said, but I felt convicted. Something was digging around in my soul telling me that this isn’t working. My way of life was no life at all. It was the third Sunday bakc to church…the third Sunday of feeling like someone was crawling around in my heart, that I went forward during an Altar call and gave my life to Christ. Case closed…end of story.
Well…not quite. It felt to me like someone threw a bucket of water on me. It was as if I had been asleep all my life, and for the first time I was opening my eyes. I can’t explain it, but things changed. Actually, it was me. I was the one who was changed. No one came up to me saying you have to do this, or you have to do that. Things just made sense. I knew that I had to be baptized. I knew that I had to start praying. I knew that I had to start reading my Bible. I had to find a new job. Issues that really didn’t matter to me before became important, and things like drinking and partying, just fell away. Again, no one told me these things…I just knew…because for the first time in my life, I knew God. God was no longer a thought, a belief, or an ideology. God was real, and he was living in…of all place…me.
Romans 10:15 says that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” This is what Paul is talking about in 1 Cor. 2. When Paul came to the people at Corinth he says that he did not come with great earthly wisdom or persuasive speech, but simply with the message of Christ crucified.
4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.
Paul tells us that no one has seen or heard God. At the most basic level, no one can even comprehend God. He is beyond weak, fallen, human understanding. But God has revealed his message…his will for our lives through the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can transcend the darkness of our hearts and bring the light of truth within.us.
1 Cor. 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
In Methodist theology, there is a term called prevenient grace. In fact, why don’t you all write it down in your notes. Prevenient grace. Prevenient grace is the grace of God which comes before. Even before you ever decide to follow Jesus, before you become a Christian, God is at work in your heart. Through his Spirit, he is calling you to him. I know of this grace in my life firsthand. I believe in this grace because I have seen it firsthand. I have known it in my heart as God called me to him. Only by the spirit of God can anyone know God. If you are going to become a Christian, you need to be spiritual.
But that’s not all, in fact, it is only the beginning. The Spirit also cleanses and makes new. It is not enough that the Spirit calls you to God and you believe, the Holy Spirit remakes, renews, and restores what was destroyed by sin. The new birth, being born again. Folks, it is not just a phrase that is thrown about by holy rollers or old school Christians. The new birth, the forgiveness of sins, being made right and just in the eyes of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
1 Cor. 2:15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Many people will say that you cannot and should not be spiritual in public. Christians need to hide their faith because Christianity is so judgmental…and the Bible says “do not judge”
Matthew 5:15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. The Spirit of God…the Holy Spirit does not only draw us to God and allow us to know him in our hearts…it empowers us to live for him.
Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Oh no! You can’t be spiritual. You cannot live some sort of Godly life. You’ll come off as arrogant, and when you fail, you will be made to look a fool. If you hear that voice in your mind or in your heart, you better start praying. You better start praying right now, because that is not the Spirit of God speaking, but the spirit of the enemy, the Devil. Do NOT listen to him. The devil does not have your best interests at heart, but his own. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Or as Pastor Mark says, tell the devil to go on back to hell where he belongs.
The Holy Spirit strengthens, purifies, and sanctifies. If you hear a voice telling you to hide your faith, it is NOT God who is speaking. Jesus tells us to be the “salt of the earth”. Salt was a valuable commodity. It was used to preserve food, but if it were contaminated or became dirty, it was worthless. It was to be thrown out… no good. Jesus tells us that we are the “light of the world”. The light that burns within us is not to be hidden.
Throughout the course of our Christian lives, the Holy Spirit is making us more like God…holy. Not that we are already there, but we strive to be salty, we desire to be bright and filled with God’s light, and that can only happen as we surrender control…as we yield to the power of the Spirit. As this happens, we become saltier and more useful. We become brighter, shining with God’s grace and light. We must be spiritual.
We must live for God the father, through the forgiveness of the Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our spirituality must be evident in our words, prayers, and deeds, by our living, our giving, and our devotion to God. We cannot allow our hearts to be ruled by human wisdom or the affections of our fallen hearts. Every facet of our lives must be dripping with the evidence of God’s Spirit.
Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
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