The Simplicity of Christ
2
Corinthians 11
The Simplicity of Christ
2
Corinthians 11 |
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Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
June 12, 2016 AM BBC
Ballincollig 22nd
Anniversary Sunday
I.
Introduction (2Corinthians 11:3)
A.
There are some things in life that are super, super complex
1.
A single living cell – all that constantly goes on inside a single
living cell to keep it alive
2.
The Tax Code – PAYE, Capital Gains Tax, Universal Social Charge, PRSI,
Value Added Tax, Deposit Interest Retention Tax, Capital Acquisitions
Tax, Corporation Taxes, Local Property Tax
3.
Computer programs – software that controls everything from your
microwave oven, to your smartphone, to the engine in your car!
4.
The entire universe – spinning, vibrating, moving
5.
An airbus cockpit – take 10’s of 1,000’s of hours training
B.
But there are some things, some very important things, that were made
simple so that anybody could understand and could enjoy
1.
Like getting to ride in an airbus airplane – just takes buckling your
seatbelt!
2.
And like getting born again!
II.
Background (2Corinthians 11)
A.
I, Like the Apostle Paul, Am Jealous of People (11:1,2)
1.
It’s a good word
2.
Not envious, but jealous – It means, protective, concerned
3.
There is a lot of competition for people’s hearts and worship, and lives
– a lot!
4.
All that ‘competition’ kind of drowns out what I want to talk about this
morning
B.
I and Every Bible Believing Pastor has Worked Hard (11:2)
1.
The Apostle Paul did! Tirelessly…
2.
Trying to get people to worry about important things
a.
People worry about their weight, their looks, the kind of car they
drive, or don’t drive
b.
They worry about what their friends think, and about how they will do on
their exams
3.
My job is to get people to worry about their soul, and whether they have
a right relationship with the God who made them
4.
I work hard to get people to follow one Man’s life – Jesus’
a.
To love Him supremely
b.
To be like a young lady getting ready for her wedding!
C.
But There is someone who works full time corrupting everything God does
(11:3,4, 13,14)
1.
He and his minions appear so good – as angels even
2.
Soiling, corrupting, ruining
a.
But this ‘enemy’ soils everything God is busy doing in people’s minds
b.
Ruins love, with lust and pornography
c.
Corrupts children, with abuse and hatred
d.
Makes fun of, and mocks anything that is clean and pure and good
3.
Does it Subtly. Subtle –
very devious, deceptive, cunning, a good liar
4.
Been doing it Since the Beginning!
a.
Satan has been at it since the beginning – in the garden of Eden
b.
He did whatever it took to turn Adam and Eve away from God (Genesis 3)
1)
Lied, twisted God’s words
2)
Made God out to be evil
3)
Made Eve the victim
c.
And Satan succeeded - Persuaded Eve, who then persuaded Adam to turn
away from God!
5.
And he is still at it today
a.
Giving false confidence! Making people think they are doing just fine
without God, or with as little of Him as possible
b.
Promoting false preachers – It’s all about YOU! You have a miracle
coming to you today! Get anything you want from God!
c.
Advertising Wrong Jesus’ – Hippy Jesus, Wimpy Jesus, the Failure Jesus,
the Genie Jesus, the Non-Existent Jesus, the Designer Jesus
d.
Wrong spirits
1)
Angels, voices, apparitions, dreams, feelings
2)
Causing people to bark like dogs, laugh like hyenas, and fall backwards
3)
Getting people to go where the entertainment is, where the fun is, where
they free stuff!
e.
Presenting false hopes and false Gospels
1)
False Gospels that tell you to keep the law
2)
False Gospels that say you can do whatever you want and still go to
heaven
3)
Getting people to forget about sin, and about heaven and hell
4)
False Gospels that seek to only help people make money
5)
And False Gospels that tell you that to please God you must destroy your
enemies
D.
So I Am Afraid (2Cor 11:3; 4:4)
1.
I know Satan has succeeded in blinding the whole word to their
conditioning
2.
He is succeeding with countless millions who are addicted to their tv
and internet, their Netflix and sky movies
3.
They just do as they always have done, just following the world around
them
4.
I am afraid that He will succeed with believers too
5.
Just like he succeeded with Eve
E.
So This Morning I want to Balance the Influence – I want to PUSH-BACK! Go head
to head with the corruption, and present the power of the simplicity of
Christ
F.
I want to present just how Simple A Believer Has it ‘In Christ’, and how
much better it is!
III.
Message
A.
Christ’s Simple Life
1.
One Solitary Life (by Dr James Allan Francis, 1926)
a.
Born in an obscure village called Bethlehem, to a poor man and woman
b.
He worked with His step-father in a carpenter shop until He was thirty
c.
And then for three and a half brief years He was an itinerant preacher,
proclaiming a simple message and living a unique life.
d.
He never wrote a book.
e.
He never held a political office.
f.
He never raised an army.
g.
He never had a family of his own.
h.
He never owned a home.
i.
He never went to university.
j.
He was a plain kind of a man, that didn’t stand out from the crowd
physically.
k.
He never travelled more than a hundred miles from the place where He was
born.
l.
He gathered a little group of friends about him and taught them His way
of life.
m.
While still a young man, the tide of popular feeling turned against him.
n.
One friend denied him; another betrayed him.
o.
He was turned over to his enemies.
p.
He went through the mockery of a public trial.
q.
He was nailed to a cross between two convicted thieves.
r.
And on that cross, He died.
s.
And when He was proven to be dead, His body was laid in a borrowed grave
because He had left no money for His own burying.
t.
Three days later, He arose from that tomb and appeared to His disciples.
u.
And 40 days later He ascended back up to heaven where He had come from
v.
Today we can look back across two thousand years and see the influence
of this Man from Galilee!
w.
All the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all
the kings that ever reigned are absolutely pitiful in their influence on
mankind compared with that of this one solitary life…
x.
The life of Jesus of Nazareth!
2.
When He taught people, He sat amongst them, speaking eye to eye and
heart to heart!
3.
He spoke with great authority, and yet with complete humility!
4.
That’s why fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John left their nets
to follow Him
5.
That’s why tax collectors like Matthew left their wealth and income to
follow Him
6.
That’s why children ran up to Him and sat in His lap
7.
All because His life was so amazingly simple
8.
And so captivating!
B.
His Words Were Simple (Mark 2:1-12; John 7:45,46)
1.
Read through the four Gospels – four entire books devoted to the words
of Jesus
2.
You will find He used mainly 1 and 2 syllable words when He spoke and
taught the crowds
3.
Short sentences (Mark 2:1-12) – no huge theological explanation!
4.
Often He would just be silent while everyone else around Him would argue
and debate
5.
See John 7:45,46
C.
His Expectations Are Simple
1.
“Come unto Me” (Matthew 11:28,29) “Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
2.
“Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9)
“And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named
Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow
me. And he arose, and followed him.”
3.
“Believe on Me” (John 6:28,29) “Then said
they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye
believe on him whom he hath sent.”
4.
Just Worry About what I think you should and should not do
a.
Don’t worry about priests and imams
b.
Don’t worry about parents or siblings
c.
Don’t worry about questions and confusions
d.
No expectations of weight, or looks, or intelligence, or skin colour, or
past failures!
e.
Just do as He did. Speak as he did. Love as he did. And leave the rest
to Him
5.
I am so grateful for Christ’s simple instructions
a.
Not easy - But they are simple!
b.
Like, Husbands love your wives
c.
Like, Children, obey your parents in the Lord
d.
Like, Give unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and unto God
the things that belong to God
D.
His Warnings Were Simple (John 3:18,19)
1.
Before we will ever accept the good news, the Gospel, we need to hear
and know the bad news
2.
Jesus spent 3 ½ years warning and waking people up to the facts!
3.
No mincing words – no political correctness!
4.
Jesus didn’t waste time warning of Global warming, and cooling; WWIII,
nuclear holocausts, or financial disasters
5.
We are in trouble with God, (under the condemnation of God) and need
saving!
a.
And we know it - we know we are a mess
b.
That’s why each of us and billions of people all over the world try very
hard to be good, and do good, and worship something
6.
Not only that, but We do not even know God on our own (John 8:17-20) –
like a blind man trying to find a light bulb! More Religion is not the
answer! Jesus warned people away from religion
a.
(Mt 23:15) Beware of scribes, Pharisees who are hypocrites – only make
people twice the children of hell
b.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves.
7.
We live out our lives doing the will of our father the devil (John 8:44)
8.
And the saddest part is, we do not know how to get right – not on our
own (John 8:21-24)!
E.
His Gospel is Simple – the best part!
1.
The devil, and religion, and society make everything so complicated!
2.
God made getting saved, forgiven, born again very simple!
3.
When Jesus is asked by someone how to be saved, He responds with no more
than 1 or 2 sentences, and that’s it!
a.
Mark 1:14,15 Now after that
John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of
the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand:
repent ye, and believe the gospel.
b.
John 1:10-12 He was in the
world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He
came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But
as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name:
c.
John 3:13-18 And no man hath
ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but
that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.
d.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
e.
Act 16:27-31 And the keeper
of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors
open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a
light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and
Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be
saved? And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
f.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of
sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
g.
Romans 10:8-10,13 But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
h.
Isaiah 45:22
Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
4.
Could it really be that easy? That simple?
a.
YES!
b.
You see… If God didn’t make it so simple, then only Theologians would be
able to get eternal life. Only very very good people would have the
chance to get forgiven. Only very hard working and energetic people
would be on their way to heaven!
c.
But He made it so simple a CHILD could get it. A thief on the cross
dying next to Him to get saved.
d.
It is easy for you and me
e.
But it was not easy for God
f.
He had to account for every wrong doing – every sin – every broken law –
every debt
g.
And God had to completely pay off every last debt of every last person
who will ever live
h.
To do that, He had to live an absolutely perfect life from start to
finish – all according to God’s perfect laws
i.
He had to love without partiality
j.
He had to humble Himself constantly
k.
And in the end, He had to suffer horrendously the punishment that was
due to all of us!
5.
Some people I have read about have quite strange events happen that make
them think they are okay with God
a.
Bright bolt of lightning striking next to one man, knocking him to the
ground
b.
An angel spoke to someone else, giving them secret prayers to pray
c.
Another woman claimed to have died and visited heaven before being
revived
6.
When the great day of judgment comes and I stand before the Lord God
Almighty, and He looks into my face and He says, “By what right do you
enter My beautiful city and walk on My golden streets?”
a.
Suppose I say, “Lord God, because I saw an angel of light from heaven.
It was such a great experience.”
b.
Satan will laugh, “Ha, ha, ha, ha, listen at him, listen at him.
He says he saw an angel of light.
He thinks he’s been converted.
Ha, listen to him. I
was that angel of light. I
transformed myself into an angel just to fool him, just to deceive him!
He belongs to me!”
And he drags my soul down to hell.
What could I say? And
what could I do?
7.
So, In that great and final day of the Lord, when I stand at the
judgment bar of Almighty God, and I’m asked, “By what right do you dare
to enter the beautiful city?”
a.
Suppose I say, “I know I’m a Christian.
Because a ball of fire burst over my head, and struck me to the
ground! I know I am okay
because, I saw a ball of fire!”
b.
And Satan will laugh, “Ha, listen to him, a ball of fire.
Ha, ha, listen to him.
I sent that ball of fire just to deceive him.
He belongs to me,” and he drags my soul down to death and down to
hell. What could I do?
And what could I say?
8.
Well, one day, when I stand at the judgment—you’ll be there, I’ll be
there, we’ll all be there—and the Lord will look into my face, and He
will ask, “By what right and by what prerogative do you dare to enter My
beautiful city and to walk on My golden streets?”
1)
Do you want to know what I’ll say?
2)
I will turn over here to the first chapter of the Gospel of John, and
open up to my favourite verse, and I will hold it up and I show it to
the Lord.
3)
And I’ll read what it says, “But as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name” [John 1:12].
4)
I will then remind the Lord, “Way back yonder, when I was 17 years old,
in a little town just north of Austin Texas, just after hearing Pastor
Jack Humbert preach to me and 250 other people the gospel of Christ
again. And that Sunday
evening, when the preacher had done his best, pleading for people like
me to respond, ‘Is there somebody today who will trust Jesus as his or
her Saviour? Don’t join the
church tonight. Don’t give up all your sins tonight. Don’t decide to be
a better person tonight! Just cling to Jesus! Cry out to Him with all
your heart, and accept His offer of eternal life!
5)
I will remind the Lord God how that Pastor Jack repeated over and over,
‘Is there someone here?’ It was THAT NIGHT I received Jesus Christ as my
Saviour.’
6)
And I will tell the Lord, “I’m not trusting any miracle, and I’m not
trusting any angel, and I’m not trusting any light from heaven, and I’m
not trusting any great experience… but Lord I’m trusting You to keep
Your Word. “I’m counting on You to keep Your promise Jesus:
‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.’
b.
Then let Satan laugh, if he dare.
Let him mock. He wouldn’t dare.
He wouldn’t dare!
1)
For my salvation is based upon the perfect Word and the absolute promise
of Almighty God.
2)
And heaven and earth may pass away, but that Word and that promise will
never pass away.
3)
So, when I wake up at two o’clock in the morning, and start to panic, am
I still okay? Am I still saved, I can open my Bible and see that that
verse is unchanged.
4)
And I can go back to sleep, and rest in my Saviour, who loved ME and
gave Himself for ME!
IV.
Let’s Review
V.
Invitation
A.
What it is to trust in Jesus?
What is it to believe in the Lord Jesus? Second Timothy 1:12
1.
“For I know whom I have believed,” Believed, trust, “for I know whom I
have trusted, for I know whom I have believed,
2.
“and I am persuaded” – convinced, sure
3.
“that He is able” – not me, or some religion
4.
“to keep that which I have committed unto Him” – my soul, my
forgiveness, and my destiny
5.
“against that day.” Judgment
day!
B.
So, What is it to trust in
Jesus? What is it to believe
in Him? This is it:
1.
It’s to commit to Him your soul and your very life.
2.
Trusting Jesus, not trusting myself, not trusting the church, or your
religion, not trusting sacraments, but simply looking to Jesus, simply
trusting Jesus to save you and keep you forever!
3.
“Lord, I lay it in Thy hands.
I can’t keep myself, I can’t save myself.
When I die, nobody wants me, even those who love me will put me
away and bury me out of sight, no longer could they stand to look upon
my face. But Lord, I commit
to Thee in life, in death, in this world, and in the world to come, I
commit to Thee my soul. All because Jesus paid for my forgiveness. And I
accept it by faith”
4.
Will YOU accept it now?
C.
Someone may say, “Preacher, I have done that, my humble best, I have
taken Jesus as my Saviour, I have opened my heart to Him.” Great! Stay
faithful! Keep your eyes ONLY on Jesus, doing HIS will from your heart,
with ALL your heart! And I will see you tonight!
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