Why the World
Needs Christians
Study Series on the Awesome Words
of Almighty God
2Corinthians 3:1-6
DATE: 20 September, 2008 AM
PLACE:
I.
Introduction
A.
People are always
quick to point the accusing finger at believers.
1.
“You say you’re a
Christian and you do that?” I know Christians who smoke, lie, steal, profane
the name of Christ, go “clubbing”, drinking… shameful isn’t it?!
2.
“You Christians are
just a bunch of hypocrites.” Yep!
3.
“If you ask me, their
God, their Bible, their beliefs haven’t changed them one bit.”
4.
These are hard words
to hear folks! They ought to put the fear of God into our hearts! Why?
B.
Because people watch
us! People EXPECT us to be different!
1.
God saved us to be
different (1Peter 2:9; Matthew 5:13-15)
a.
Lights in a dark world
b.
Salt in a putrefying
world
c.
Joy in a empty world
2.
The Holy Spirit works
in us to make us different
3.
So, we SHOULD BE
DIFFERENT! AMEN!?
4.
But the truth is, you
can hardly tell the difference these days
a.
Christians listen to
the same music as the ungodly
b.
Christians drink like
the drunkards
c.
Christians watch the
same movies – no concern about whether it grieves the Holy Spirit dwelling
in them)
d.
Christians dress
immodestly like everybody else
e.
Same messed up hair,
slouched shoulders, bad attitudes (and that’s just the parents!!!)
J
5.
Are we any different
than we used to? I wonder if anyone can tell?
C.
Whether you like it or
not, a born again child of God is a walking Bible. We are Christ’s letter to
the world.
1.
The Bible word is
“Epistle” – it means an open letter for all to read. Not a private letter,
but something for everyone to read like a magazine, or newspaper
2.
Somebody said, “We may
not all be
D.
How do people read
you? What do they see in the pages of your life?
1.
Lusts, lying,
deception? Are they reading a failed romance novel or a fruitful Christian’s
life?
2.
Hatred, bitterness,
fury? Are people reading a murder novel, or a life of grace and forgiveness?
3.
Depression,
frustration, no joy at all? Are people reading a woman’s magazine, or a
Christian life full of hope and confidence in the Lord?
4.
What do they see in
you?
E.
Funny, isn’t it? If
you really are a Christian, shouldn’t they see some Light? Shouldn’t there
be “joy unspeakable, and full of glory”?
Shouldn’t there be some changes that people can plainly see between what you
were before you got saved, and what you are today?
F.
Well, let’s see just
how important it is to be a True-to-the-Word Christian, instead of a
live-like-the-world kind of a Christian
II.
Message – Why the World Needs
Christians
A.
Because they Need to See, and
Read LIVING Bibles (2Cor 3:2,3)
1.
Like I said, whether
you like it or not, you are probably the only Bible most people will ever
read – and BOY will they read you… from cover to cover!
a.
You are not your own
story anymore – you are God’s story, written in HIS heart, and it is acted
out in your life! So COOL!
b.
Yes people may think
you are a fool, but they need to know that you are for real!
2.
You are the “EPISTLE
of Christ” now (2Cor 3:3)! Think about that! It is as if people
come to the newsagent, and pick you up like they would a magazine, and they
EXPECT you to explain Jesus! That’s what Christians do!
a.
They expect a magazine
about fishing to tell them about fishing
b.
They expect a magazine
about politics going on to explain politics
c.
They expect a comic
book to show comics and make them laugh
d.
They expect a
Christian, when they meet him or her:
1)
To tell them about the
Messiah who came and lived, and was crucified, and rose again, and was
believed BY YOU, and how He changed you, and lives in you, and fills you
with joy and peace and strength and purpose!
2)
They don’t expect
Christians to curse, and smoke, and drink, and doll themselves up like
Madonna!
e.
Hey! Everybody is
reading you… but I wonder, are they reading much about Jesus in your life?
f.
And by the way, are
people reading the Authorized Version, or your own translation of what God
said? Hmmmm!
3.
How can they tell if
they are reading what GOD said, or just what you think?
a.
Do you cherry pick
what you believe, and how you live? Or does your life just simply match up
with this Written Bible?
b.
Too many “Christians”
want the new bibles out there today, the modern versions that won’t offend
people, because THEY don’t want to offend anybody.
c.
And they especially
want plain Bibles that don’t command change in people’s lives because THEY
don’t want to change! Pitiful isn’t it?
4.
More than that… It’s
Convicting, isn’t it?
B.
Because They Need to See a
Spiritual People (2Cor 3:3)
1.
People see more than
flesh and bone.
a.
Yes, people still see
our hair, nails, skin, and eyes, but, the Gospel goes deeper.
b.
You are more than just
what you wear, and what things you own, and how educated you may think you
are – much more than all that!
2.
If you are born again
this morning, you are spiritual!
a.
Yes, we eat and sleep,
and work and play
b.
But we also love God,
really love God, and talk to Him, and listen to His word, and yearn to know
Him more and more, and to be right with Him, and to bless Him as much as He
blesses us!
c.
We yearn to talk about
spiritual things, about heaven, and warn about hell! We seek to save
people’s souls, not just help people’s wallets
3.
What do people read
when they behold your life? When they watch you day in and day out?
a.
Do they see the God of
all grace, kindness, love and mercy? Or do they see an angry god with no
patience, and no grace?
b.
Do they see the power
of the word of God working effectually in your life? Or do they see the same
old same old?
c.
Do they see you
walking in the Spirit, or always in the flesh?
4.
Convicting, isn’t it?
C.
Because They Need to See People
Who are Totally Dependant Upon God (2Cor
3:4,5)
1.
Modern Dependencies
a.
People are becoming
only more and more dependant upon drugs and drink to sleep and have fun –
society is broken, not getting better!
b.
People are depending
on pubs and discos to provide girlfriends and boyfriends
c.
People depend on their
paychecks, and the economy, and the government, and society
d.
God’s people MUST
learn to depend upon God, and HIM alone!
2.
The world EXPECTS us
to wait upon the Lord… The world thinks
that we think it is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in men (Psalm 118:8)…
3.
So why don’t we?
4.
Why are all the GREAT
stories in the Bible the best to read? Because they were IMPOSSIBLE
situations where, simply because someone or someone(s) believed God more
than their senses, God showed up and did the impossible!
a.
Feeding of five
thousand because of the faith of a little boy
b.
Peter walked on the
water because he had just a little faith
c.
Naaman the leper was
cured because he just finally believed God
d.
Peter preached
powerfully on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 got saved simply because he
finally believed God without reservation!
e.
5.
Wouldn’t it be
wonderful, absolutely wonderful if your lost Mother, or your Father, your
angry sister, your messed up brother, your best friend, your rebellious
daughter or wayward son… wouldn’t it be wonderful if they finally saw you
true-blue?
Believing God with no reservations?
6.
Don’t you think, THEY
think you are trusting the Lord?
a.
They will get the
wrong message if you are always worrying, or always complaining, or always
angry and bitter
b.
You trying to hide
your Christianity hasn’t helped ANYBODY! Why not just “let
your light so shine before men”?
7.
It is pretty
convicting isn’t it?
D.
Because They Need the Hope of
the New Testament (2Cor 3:6)
1.
Did you know that God
has written His Word all over this universe?
a.
Wrote it in creation
(Psalm 19:1)
b.
Wrote it into every
man’s conscience – morality (Romans 2:15). We ALL know it is wrong to steal,
and to take another man’s wife, and to lie, and to kill! We know it because
it has been “hard-wired” into our conscience (what’s left of it after
MTV!!!)
c.
Wrote it onto stone
tablets on Mt Sinai (Exodus 24:12) – the Law
d.
Wrote it into every
fibre of the life of His Son (John 1:14) - Jesus
e.
Wrote it onto the
pages of the Bible (2Tim 3:16)
f.
Now He is writing it
into the HEARTS of everyone who believes (Hebrews 8:10)!
2.
Because of the law
written everywhere, it convicts people of their sin, and condemns them!
a.
People know they do
wrong – that they are defective in their heart.
b.
The Old Testament
comes along and convinces us that our sneaking feeling is right – that we
are in trouble with God, and that we are
doomed.
c.
The righteousness of
the law convicts us as law-breakers, and condemns us to a devil’s hell – and
rightly so! No matter what religion you are a part of, or what you think! No
religion saves anybody! It only makes people feel more guilty!
3.
But Jesus changed all
that – translated us into a new kingdom (1Pet 2:9)
4.
How are people going
to hear without someone telling them about such a Saviour?
a.
They need to know that
Jesus LIVES, and that He lives right now, in our lives!!! That he is
present, and powerful enough to save anybody, and change anybody! And YOU
and I are the only proof that this truth is real!
b.
Without us as living
proof, then people are STUCK with just guilt, and shame, and confusion, and
no hope!
5.
Convicting, isn’t it?
III.
The World Watches and Notices
Real Christians
A.
B.
1 Thess. 1:8 “For from
you SOUNDED out the WORD of the LORD not only in
C.
When David came before
Goliath, before he killed him, David said in 1 Sam. 17:46 “This day will the
Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will SMITE thee, and take thine HEAD
from thee; …that all the EARTH may KNOW that there is a GOD in
D.
And Moses said to
Pharaoh in Ex. 9:16 speaking of the plagues God brings on
IV.
It All Starts With God’s Work
IN Us (2Cor 5:17,18).
A.
2 Cor. 5:17, 18 “Therefore
if any man be IN Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE, old things are PASSED AWAY;
behold, all things are become NEW. And ALL things are of GOD…”
B.
Col. 1:12, 13 “Giving
thanks unto the FATHER, which hath made us MEET (fit) to be PARTAKERS of the
INHERITANCE of the SAINTS in light; Who hath delivered us from the POWER of
DARKNESS and hath TRANSLATED (moved, changed) us into the KINGDOM of his
dear Son:”
C.
God has done the
mightiest of all His works when He gave His Son to redeem, to purchase us!
1.
Only God could make a
sinner a saint – totally forgiven, and righteous before God
2.
Give eternal life to
the spiritually dead – like a resurrection!
3.
Indwell our bodies and
make us brand new creatures
4.
Translate us from the
power of darkness into the kingdom of His own dear Son – no longer a slave
of sin and Satan, but a servant of the most high God!
5.
The work was
accomplished through the hearing of the word of God, and the believing of it
with all our heart.
D.
If all that has
actually happened, shouldn’t the world be able to see it?
1.
We are the living
epistles of Christ, known and read of all men.
2.
So, what are people
reading in us?
3.
Is God’s great
redemptive work on display for all to see?
4.
Has he taken that
cigarette out of your hand, helped you put down the beer and vodka forever,
helped you get rid of the vile TV channels that aren’t fit for dogs to
watch?
V.
What About Hypocrites?
A.
Carnal believers are
no excuse for the lost on judgment day.
1.
Rom. 1:20 tells us “For
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; SO THAT THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE”
2.
According to Rev.
20:12 that the unsaved will be “judged
out of the things which were WRITTEN in the BOOKS, according to THEIR WORKS.”
B.
But, it sure would
make it easier on them if our lives showed them there was a better way to
live, a way to get cleaned up and washed on the inside, a way to sleep
without pills, and love without porn, and live without regrets!
C.
If you are a
hypocrite, living the hypocrite’s life, you already KNOW the Lord is dealing
with you, and trying to get you right again – the pressure, the
chastisement, the guilt and shame for the sins you constantly give in to
D.
God is not asleep, and
He is not going to just let us play with sin, and fake our way through life!
E.
He designed us to be
different (1Thes 5:5-8). To be anything less is a joke!
VI.
Conclusion
A.
Why the World Needs
Living,
1.
Because They Need to
See Faith in Action
2.
Because They Need to
See what it means to Live Spiritually
3.
Because They Need to
See what Total Dependence is Like
4.
Because They Need the
Hope of the New Testament
B.
People will make
decision FOR or AGAINST Jesus Christ based upon what they see in our lives!
C.
Please, give them a
good reason to repent, and believe God is there, and that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek Him!
1.
Be meek when others
are angry
2.
Be humble when
everyone around you are proud and full of themselves
3.
Pray for your enemies,
and bless them that curse you and God
4.
Speak up for God, and
tell people he is alive and well, and let them see His effect on you
5.
When people around you
are as stable as water, be as faithful as a mountain!
D.
Why? So that they will
know that the God of this Book is worth following be trusting! They won’t
trust this Bible until they see that it works!!!
E.
Does it work? Did it
change YOU? (2Cor 13:5) Or are you a fraud?
F.
I wouldn’t be far off
to say that all of us are falling way short of being visible Bibles in our
generation.
1.
Some of you have never
been born again – so you just tell other people it is not necessary – when
you have heard the Gospel, and KNOW it is the most important thing!
2.
Some of you are living
backslidden lives – you are telling this world Salvation does NOT change
people – so they stay in THEIR sins, and will perish one day – all because
you were too lazy to get right with God!
3.
Some of you hold onto
grudges, and bitterness, and depression – you tell this world that a pill or
drink at least gives a better buzz than Jesus does!
4.
Some of you simply are
not living the written word of God because you have not even read it
yourself!