May 4, 2003 - Lesson: Matthew 7.21-23

Sermon Title: Distinguishing Characteristics

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INTRODUCTION:

SECOND LOOK

A young farmer was driving to town to get a part for his combine. He stopped to help a woman motorist with a burst radiator hose. Since he was headed for the parts store anyway, he told the woman he'd also get what she needed. After he returned, he made the repairs and headed for his pickup.

"Wait!" she called out. "I want to pay you."

"No, ma'am," the farmer replied. "Maybe one day my old truck will quit and you can give me a lift."

That's when the woman took stock of him. The farmer had been working on his combine all day, had crawled under her car twice, and had not had time for a haircut in months.

"Young man," she said, "you'd better take the money. I wouldn't pick up someone who looks like you."

  1. Who would you pick up?

    1. I remember earlier in my life when hitchhiking was legal and relatively safe.

    2. You were still cautious whom you stopped to pick up.

    3. If you were hitchhiking as I sometimes did, you dressed well to make a good impression so that a compassionate person would stop and give you a lift.

  2. if you stop and think about it if you were hitchhiking and Jesus were driving, would he stop and give you a lift, or would he not recognize you for who you are?

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MAIN BODY:

  1. Not everyone shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

    1. Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

    2. Not everyone who prophecies in the name of the Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.

    3. Not everyone who casts our demons will enter the kingdom of heaven.

    4. Not everyone who does many deeds of power, performs miracles, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

    5. Jesus is going to say I never knew you.

  2. Who then will enter the kingdom of heaven?

    1. If it is not dependent on proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.

    2. If it is not dependent on prophesying.

    3. If it is not dependent on casting out demons.

    4. If it is not dependent on deeds of power.

  3. Then what is it?

    1. We want to know, don't we?

Remember the advertising slogan for the Enquirer, "Enquiring minds want to know!"

    1. The answer is one that has a tendency to create a moderate level of anxiety.

      1. The answer is simple yet complex.

      2. The answer is knowable and doable.

  1. Where do we find an answer?

    1. We discover God's will in Jesus.

    2. Jesus is the proclaimer and exemplar of God's will.

Hans Kung in is book, "On Being a Christian," asks the question, "What is there special about Christianity?" (1)

The answer...here, too, must be: According to the earliest testimony and that of tradition as a whole, the special feature of Christianity is again this Jesus himself, who is constantly freshly known and acknowledged as Christ...The special feature, the most fundamental characteristic of Christianity is that it considers this Jesus as ultimately decisive, definitive, archetypal, for man's relations with God, with his fellow man, with society: in the curtailed biblical formula, as Jesus Christ.

  1. If Jesus is the proclaimer and exemplar of the will of God what did he proclaim?

34Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. John 4:34 (NRSVA)

30"I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. John 5:30 (NRSVA)

38for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day." John 6:38 through John 6:40 (NRSVA)

17Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. John 7:17 (NRSVA)

    1. The apostles are also, within their human limitations the proclaimers and exemplars of God's will.

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, Ephesians 1:3-9 (NRSVA)

13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 (NRSVA)

23And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. 1 John 3:23-24 (NRSVA)

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  1. God's will may be understood as comprehending the totality of life.

    1. God wills our transformation from selfishness to love.

2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NRSVA)

    1. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.

      1. There are three words that we all ought to understand and find in our spiritual vocabularies.

      2. They are justification, sanctification and glorification.

      3. Justification is the action of being declared righteous before God.

        1. It is what Jesus does for us the moment we accept him as our personal Lord and Savior.

        2. There are many ways in which this can be done.

      4. Glorification is the process of change that will take place in the resurrection.

        1. We will lose mortality and corruption.

        2. We will assume immortality and incorruption.

      5. Sanctification is the process of spiritual growth that ought to lead us, day by day, to the model that Jesus has given us in his life and teachings.

1Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; 4that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, 5not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. 8Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (NRSVA)

    1. God wills endurance

13and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Mark 13:13 (NRSVA)

    1. God wills a joyful and constructive spirit.

18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NRSVA)

    1. God provides the means to accomplish his purpose.

2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NRSVA)

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CONCLUSION

  1. So how does God identify us? What are the distinguishing characteristics of a Christian?

    1. Not everyone shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

      1. Not everyone who says "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

      2. Not everyone who prophecies in the name of the Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven.

      3. Not everyone who casts our demons will enter the kingdom of heaven.

      4. Not everyone who does many deeds of power, performs miracles, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

      5. Jesus is going to say I never knew you.

    2. Who then will enter the kingdom of heaven?

      1. If it is not dependent on proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.

      2. If it is not dependent on prophesying.

      3. If it is not dependent on casting out demons.

      4. If it is not dependent on deeds of power.

    3. Then what is it?

      1. Those who do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven.

      2. Are you better prepared now to understand and perform his will than you were before now?

  2. I pray so. Amen.

1. Hans Kung, On Being a Christian (New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1976), 123. © 2002 Communication Resources, Inc. All Rights Reserved Used with Permission

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