Message

Today, we going to continue in our message series – Learn from Jesus. In many of Jesus’ teachings, there are what some call “hard sayings.” These hard sayings are often not hard to understand, they are hard to obey, hard to put into practice.

Today, my message is entitled “Love Your Enemies.” This is a hard saying of Jesus. Not hard to understand, but hard to do. As we begin to think about loving our enemies, we need to answer the question, who is my enemy? Some might say, well, I have no enemies. We’re going to see that everyone has enemies, lots of enemies, whether they realize it or not.

What is an enemy? The dictionary defines enemy as “someone who is actively opposed or hostile to you.” The word enemy or enemies is used 30 times in the New Testament. So, let’s see what the Bible has to say about enemies.

Philippians 3:18-19 (ESV) For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

These verses speak of enemies of the cross, these enemies are unbelievers. e were all enemies of the cross before we were saved.

Romans 5:10 (ESV) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

God saves people who are His enemies and turns them into children of God. What a wonderful transformation. The enemies of the cross follow, not Jesus, but the enemy, Satan.

Matthew 13:39a (ESV) and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

So we have two armies in the world today. The army of Satan consisting of all unbelievers following the enemy, Satan. And the army of God, following the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we as believers, win the battle against the enemies of the cross? Not by hating, hurting or killing our enemies, but by loving our enemies.

How does that win the battle? As we love our enemies, the enemies of the cross, they will be saved and become part of the family of God. We are destined to turn enemies into brothers and sisters in the family of God. So, today, you’re going to learn more from Jesus about loving your enemies. Easy to say, hard to put into practice. Why? Because the natural, ungodly response is to hate our enemies. We must learn to love our enemies as God loved us when we were His enemies.

Today, we’re going to talk about “How to Live a Blessed Life.” How many here want to live a blessed life? I’m sure that you all do. I think just about everyone wants to live a blessed life. What is a blessed life? A blessed life is a life under God’s favor and protection.

Does everyone live a blessed life? The answer is no. Many people do not live a blessed life. Some think that a blessed life is just a matter of chance. Happens to some, but not others randomly. The Bible teaches that a blessed life is not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice. Your choice. Each person can choose whether they live a blessed life or not.

Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a (ESV) … I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life …

You see God sets before every person the choice to chose life or death, blessing or curse. How does a person choose to live a blessed life according to this verse? You choose to love God, to obey God and to hold fast to Him. If we read the entire passage, we see how a person chooses a cursed life. They choose to turn away from God, to not listen to and obey Him, and to worship idols.

In case you’re not sure what choice to make, God tells us that the right choice is to choose life, to choose blessing. Everyone on the planet is living one of two kinds of lives, either a blessed life or a cursed life. But the good news is that those who are not living a blessed life can change and make the choice to live a blessed life.

If you’re not sure you’re living a blessed life, I’m going to give you an opportunity at the end of this message to choose blessing. If you are living a blessed life by following Jesus, it’s important to realize that there are degrees of blessing. Whatever blessing you are experiencing in life, there is more blessing available. The amount of blessing a person experiences in living a blessed life is not by chance.

What is the key to see blessing increase in your life? The closer you walk with Jesus, the more you will be blessed. If you wander away from Jesus, your blessing will decrease.

Today, we want to unlock the teaching of Jesus on how to live a blessed life. And we’re going to learn how to see that blessing increase in our lives. And how to share God’s blessing with others. You see, God wants everyone to live a blessed life. That’s why He gives everyone a choice to choose blessing.

Happy Easter! On Easter we celebrate the most important event in the history of the world. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our message today is entitled “Jesus is Alive.” Let’s begin this morning talking about why the resurrection is so important for each one of us. Jesus prophesied that He would die and rise again.

Matthew 20:18-19 (ESV) “… the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Yet, despite this, Jesus’ followers did really believe that He would die. And when He died, they didn’t believe that He would rise again. If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, what would He be? He would be false prophet, a liar and certainly not the Son of God. As followers of Jesus, we speak a lot about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. But without the resurrection, Jesus’ death would have accomplished nothing.

1 Corinthians 15:17 (ESV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

You see, when God raised Jesus from the dead, it meant that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for sin on the cross. Jesus was raised from the dead to never die again. This had never happened before in the history of the world. We don’t celebrate Jesus hanging on the cross, we celebrate the empty tomb.The empty tomb meant that Jesus no longer dead, but lives forever more. The resurrection of Jesus means that every believer will be resurrected in the same way.

1 Corinthians 15:52 (ESV) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

As followers of Jesus, we will receive a resurrected body just like Jesus did. That body will have both physical and spiritual dimensions, just like Jesus’ did. Our resurrected bodies will fit us to live forever in the new heavens and new earth. So, sorry to disappoint you, but you’re not going float around on clouds playing harps forever. We will have a wonderful future of eternal life forever with Jesus. All because of the resurrection of Jesus. All because Jesus is Alive. So, let’s look more closely at the resurrection story from the Gospel of Luke this morning to see how it applies to our lives today.

Today’s message is entitled “The Lordship of Jesus.” As we continue in our study of the Gospel of Luke, we’re going to see how Jesus claims an authority above all others. What is the lordship of Jesus all about? The word lordship means supreme power or rule. Jesus was not just another founder of a religion, like Buddha or Muhammad.

Romans 10:9 (ESV) if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

This verse summarizes salvation as requiring two things. First of all, you must believe in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead and so is alive today. No one can be saved who believes Jesus died on the cross and never rose from the dead. Then secondly, you must confess before others that Jesus is Lord of all and Lord of your life. To confess that Jesus is Lord means that you are committed to obeying everything He commands you to do. To confess that Jesus is Lord means that you will follow no other religion or any other authority that contradicts Jesus.

This simple verse refutes the teaching that you can accept Jesus as your Savior and decide later on if you want to make Him your Lord. Jesus cannot be the Savior of anyone who has not confessed Him as Lord. Now, confessing Jesus as Lord is not just a matter of saying those words.

Matthew 7:21 (ESV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

The confession of Jesus is Lord must be backed up with a life of doing God’s will. According to Jesus, many who call Him Lord are not in fact serving Him as Lord and so will not spend eternity with Him. When a person follows Jesus as Lord, they will always encounter opposition.

2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Everyone who follows Jesus as Lord by living a godly life will be persecuted. Persecuted by whom? Persecuted by those who are not following Jesus as Lord, of which there are many. However, being persecuted is not a bad thing. It is a mark that you are doing something right.

Matthew 5:11-12 (ESV) “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You are blessed when you are persecuted and so should rejoice. As Jesus our Lord was persecuted, so will all His followers be as well. Today, we’re going to learn what following Jesus as Lord is all about. God calls us to …

Today’s message is entitled “The Spirit’s New Move.” As we journey through the gospel of Luke in this message series, we see Jesus constantly upsetting the traditions of men. He upsets the Jewish leaders. They thought they were following God by keeping various rules and regulations. However, Jesus taught that there was only one way to have a relationship with God. And that way was not through keeping rules.

John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus made it clear that there is only one way to have a relationship with God, in this life and for eternity. The one way is through Jesus Christ. So how does a person follow Jesus the way?

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Following Jesus requires, not good works, but faith. Faith believes that God exists, that He rewards seekers who put their trust in Him. Polls in America and around the world show that most people believe that the way to have a relationship with God, the way to heaven is to be a good person. All religions other than Christianity are rule-based religions. You must do certain things they consider good order to have a relationship with God.

This was the case of the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day and it is the same for Jews today and every other religion. Unfortunately, many people who claim to be Christian think that they are going to heaven because they are good people who do good things. No one can be good enough to go to heaven.

Romans 3:23 (ESV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Every person on earth has a sin problem. Just one sin, and we all have many more than one, keeps a person from a relationship with God and heaven in eternity. Only Jesus was able to solve mankind’s sin problem through His death and resurrection. After Jesus’ rose from the dead, He began to pour out the Holy Spirit to empower those who through faith choose to follow Him.

Acts 2:17a (ESV) And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…

On the day of Pentecost, God began to pour out His Spirit on those who were praying and seeking the baptism in the Holy Spirit. God continued to make available His Spirit down through the millennia. However, unfortunately, not many were seeking the power of the Spirit for thousands of years. That changed in a dramatic way in the early 1900s as people in America began to seek after God in a new and fresh way.

In 1914, the Assemblies of God fellowship was created to reach the world for Jesus through the power of the Spirit. The Assemblies of God is now the world’s largest evangelical and largest Spirit-filled fellowship in the world with over 70 million members and hundreds of thousands of churches. It is now estimated that there are 645 million Spirit baptized believers in the world. Why is this all happening in our lifetime? I and many others believe that God is preparing for a great move of revival to usher in the return of Jesus Christ. So, how can we be part of the Spirit’s new move in our world today?

Following Jesus is really what the Christian life is all about. Following Jesus makes life easy in many ways. You don’t have to figure everything out yourself, you simply need to do what Jesus tells you to do. To follow Jesus is to be like Him in your attitudes and thought life. To follow Jesus is to speak the truth in love as Jesus did. To follow Jesus is to do the things that Jesus did.

Today, our message is entitled “Does God Heal Today?” Some people say no. Others only through doctors. Yet others, say rarely. Today, we’re going to look at God’s Word to see how it answers the question.

Luke 4:40-41 (ESV) Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many,

This is one of many verses that describe Jesus’ healing ministry. People flocked to Jesus and He healed their diseases and cast demons out of them. As we’ve begun our journey through the Gospel of Luke, we’ve seen summary accounts of Jesus’ healing many. We’ve also read of detailed examples of Jesus healing people. As Jesus was healing people, His disciples were being trained by watching Him. Then Jesus decided it was time for His disciples to do the same things.

Luke 9:1-2 (ESV) And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Jesus’ disciples were given the same power that Jesus had to heal and cast out demons. Some would say, well that was the twelve apostles and we’re not apostles. If we disregarded everything that Jesus told His apostles to do, there wouldn’t be much of anything in the Gospels for us to follow. So, to make it clearer to us the Jesus desires for all His followers to heal people, let’s look at

Luke 10:1, 9 (ESV) After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. … Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

These are 72 unnamed other disciples who were instructed to do the same things. Not only did they heal the sick, but they also cast out demons, just as Jesus had done. Jesus instructed His disciples and us that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to do supernatural things, like heal the sick and cast out demons. The power of the Holy Spirit, called by Jesus the baptism in the Holy Spirit must be asked for in order to receive it. The Holy Spirit gives out specific gifts related to healing.

1 Corinthians 12:9-10a (ESV) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles

Here we see three gifts of the spirit mentioned, including gifts of healing. Some would say, well if God wants me to have it, He’ll just have to give it to me. But that’s not the way God works. The way that we receive gifts from God is by asking Him for them. If we don’t ask, we won’t receive.

1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV) Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts,

This verse is a command, this is not an option for a follower of Jesus. Every follower of Jesus should earnestly desire spiritual gifts. What does it mean to earnestly desire spiritual gifts? It means to earnestly pray and ask God for them in your life. It’s not just asking once, it’s asking until God gives you the power to use them to show His love to others. And notice that there are gifts (plural) of healing, so there are different kinds of gifts of healing. If God commands you to earnestly desire something, do you think that He then wouldn’t give it to you? I don’t think so. If you seek, you will find. Yes, God still heals today and He wants to use you and me to bring His healing into our world. So, let’s learn how we can learn to follow Jesus in healing.