Just Do It!

Text : Matthew 5:33-37

Title : Just Do It!

Speaker : Jhun Balanon

I. INTRODUCTION

A. The Unrighteous  Righteousness

·        The whole chapter 5 up to the 18^th verse of chapter 6 evolves in deadly legalistic system of the religion of Jews and summed up in chapter 5 verse 20 “Your righteousness is not enough for you to enter to God’s Kingdom

·        The righteousness you have gained through observing the law will destroy you

B. The Unjustifiable Requirements

·        In order to attain righteousness one must observe the Law

·        But the standard basis is so high and it is now impossible for them to attain that righteousness and they must do something

·        They lowered the standard of the law (unjustifiable requirement) so that they can observe them and attain what they want: A righteousness that will poison their whole being and will lead to their damnation soon

C. The Unmerited Reprieve

·        They missed the whole point of the law

·        The law was given in order for them to see themselves in the helpless and hopeless condition

·        And in order to look for the solution for this great tragedy of their souls

·        And this solution is the one who has a power to take them out of this curse of sin

·        And Jesus is the one who has the power to make it happen

·        He is also the one who can give righteousness that will make them enter into God’s Kingdom

D. The Unveiled Reality

·        Jesus unveiled the reality of the sinfulness of the heart

·        The self-righteous will say “I am not a murderer” but Jesus will reply “You are a murderer because your heart is full of anger and hatred towards others”

·        The self-righteous will say “I am not an adulterer” but Jesus will reply “You are an adulterer because your heart is full of lust and not only that you push them to commit also a sin of adultery”

·        The self-righteous will say “I am not an oath breaker” but Jesus will reply “You are an oath breaker because your heart is full of lies”

II. BODY

Note : This message is all about the INTEGRITY OF THE LAST WORD

A. The Definition

·        OATH from the Greek word “Horkos” carries the idea of binding to something so that your word is then strengthened in the affirmation of invoking God to attest to the validity of your word.

o   Those who take oath taking are bind to their oath

§  Professionals like nurse, doctor, teacher

§  Those who will tell something in the court

·        Oath is categorized in to two

o   Vow – oath to the Lord

o   Promise – oath to a person

B. The Reverse Priority

·        The Priority of the Jews in Terms of Oath

o   Jews prioritized their oath to the Lord rather than their oath to men

o   They may break their oath to someone else but not to God

§  Matthew 15:5 tells about violating the fifth commandment for the sake of their oath to the Lord

·        The Priority of the People Today in Terms of Oath

o   People today prioritized their oath to people rather than God

o   They may break their oath to God but not to someone else especially the one who favoured them before.

C. The 3 Main Focus of the Message

1) The Actual Principles of Swearing

·        It is not a law but principle

o   Notice that there is no footnote in your study Bible compare with others (v.21, 27, 31, 38 and 43)

o   But the principles of swearing can be seen throughout the Scriptures

§  Covenants, the servant of Abraham, Joshua, Spies and Rahab, Jephthah

·        The Principles

o   Swearing by the Greater One(Hebrews 6:16)

o   Swearing must be kept (Numbers 30:2)

o   Swearing can lead to sinning (Deuteronomy 23:21)

·        The Application

o   When making a vow by testifying in the court man must tell the truth

o   When making a vow during the marriage it must be kept

2) The Abuse of Principles of Swearing

·        Hypocrisy – Do not break your oath but keep your the oaths you have made to the Lord

It sounds being faithful to God by keeping the oath but neglect the other (Matthew 15:5)

o   The Pharisees’ Assertion

§  The Pharisees were saying “we are keeping our oath to the Lord.”

o   The Pharisees’ Approval

§  They approve which oaths are binding and which are not (Matthew 23:16-18)

·        Blasphemy – But I tell you do not swear at all...

          Any vow whether by God’s name or not still it is in God’s name (Leviticus 5:4)

o   Shortsighted View of Swearing

§  Someone who swore not to God’s name and then breaks his vow and tell to himself “Anyway I did not swear by God’s name” is short sighted.

o   Shallow View of Swearing

§  Shallow view of swearing will lead to blasphemy

3) The Advices about Principles of Swearing

·        Swear Suitably (v.34) 

o   Do not make it routine of your life and do it in a very special and important situation

o   Because God is always included in any vows and promises

o   Because it might be a sin for you (Deuteronomy 23:21)

·        Think Thoroughly (36)

o   In swearing thoughtlessly you are still held responsible for it

·        Act Accordingly (37)

o   Just do common things not in the swearing manner.

 FOR GOD'S GLORY

 November 13, 2011

The Abused Document

 Text : Matthew 5:31-32

Title : The Abused Document

Speaker : Jhun Balanon

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Divorce in the Philippine Perspective

·        There is no divorce in the Philippines only annulment but the principle is the same as divorce

·        Despite the fact that there is no divorce here and annulment is so expensive and time consuming, the essence of divorce still inevitable

·        Divorce are all over the place

o   In showbiz

o   In upper class society

o   Even to the grass roots society

·        Divorce today is just a normal part in the society like any other crimes

B. Divorce in Biblical Perspective (Matthew 19:8-9)

·        God hates divorce

·        God permits divorce because of stubbornness of Israelites

·        There is only ground for divorce – Marital Unfaithfulness

II. BODY

A. Certification – Certificate of Divorce

·        Who are qualified for the issuance of certificate of divorce? –

o   Anyone who proves that his or her spouse commit infidelity

·        What is the ground in order to avail certificate of divorce?

o   Marital Unfaithfulness no more no less

·        Why Jesus Christ opposed the tradition of the Jews in terms of divorce?

o   The reason is that they divorced their spouses with other reasons aside from marital unfaithfulness (v.32)

B. Condition – Biblical Grounds

·        Ground for Divorce

o   Marital Unfaithfulness (for any reason except sexual immorality)

·        Ground for Remarriage

o   The Person Who is Widow or Widower (1Cor. 7:8-9, 39)

C. Corruption – Cause of Adultery

·        Root of Corruption

o   Wrong motives to divorce their spouses

§  That’s why Jesus use the word (any reasons)aside from sexual immorality..

§  Jesus deals the very heart of a man

·        Fruit of Corruption

o   Adultery is the result of the divorce done not in Biblical perspective

Different Facets of Adultery in Wrong Motive of Divorce

A. The Act of Hating

·        The one who wants to divorce his or her spouse must examine the motive of the heart

o   Why is the reason why I divorce my spouse?

o   Do I love my spouse still or I hate my spouse?

B. The Act of Craving

·        The one who wants to divorce his or her spouse must examine the craving of the heart

o   Most of those who wanted to divorce their spouse they want other person to be with

o   Some crave for the love, attention, and even sexual satisfaction that they spouses cannot give to them

C. The Act of Causing Sin

·        The one who wants to divorce his or her spouse must consider his or her partner and other person.

o   The reason is that his or her spouse will fall in temptation that leads to adultery as well as the one who will marry them.

III. CONCLUSION

·        Remember that God hates divorce

·        Remember the vow you took before the Lord during the wedding ceremony

o   Love you spouses that the Lord had given you

·        Divorce must be grounded on the biblical basis (marital unfaithfulness)

o   So that you may not push them to cause sin of adultery

                                                                                                                                                     FOR GOD'S GLORY

                                                                                                                                                          October 23, 2011

A SOUL FOR CHRIST IS A WITNESS OF CHRIST

John 1:35-42a

I. INTRODUCTION

1. One of the Problem in Christianity – WITNESSING

·        Possible Cause

o   Most of Christians are not aware of the purpose of God for saving them (Acts 1:8)

o   They do not know Christ very well

o   They thought, it is the responsibility of the pastors and leaders of the church only.

2 . Laying the Foundation in Understanding the Gospel of John

·        Frequent Words

o   Believe – 71 times mentioned in the Gospel of John

o   Life – more than 40 times  mentioned in the Gospel of John

·        Jesus Presenting Himself in Words – I AM’s (I AM WHO I AM)

o   Bread of Life

o   Resurrection and Life

·        Jesus Presenting Himself in Works – Signs and Wonders

o   Water turn to Wine – Giving New Life

o   Raising Lazarus – Resurrection

·        The Purpose of the Gospel of John (John 20:31)

o   To BELIEVE and have LIFE through HIS CLAIMS and SIGNS

·        This is the Gospel of Witnessing

o   Jesus witnessing about Himself

o   Those whom Jesus met were witnessing about Jesus

§  The Samaritan woman witnessed about Jesus after

§  Even the Roman soldier who pierced believed and testified about Christ (v.19:35)

II. BODY

Scene 1 – The Proclamation of Word

               John the Baptist was preaching. This is the 3^rd day of his preaching (29,35). The two disciples were there and they are Andrew (v.40)and John the Beloved-the author of the Gospel of John (most probably John, though the author is not mentioning about himself but most of the time there is an emphasis : John 19:26, John 21:20, John 13:23).

1. The Witness Believes in Jesus Christ  - How Can I Believe?

·        There must be witnessing (v.35-36)

o   John the Baptist was witnessing because he was a witness (John 1:6-9)

o   John was preaching, evangelizing, and teaching and all these are witnessing.

·        Witnessing must be done over and over again

o   John the Baptist was keep on witnessing over and over again

§  The phrase “THE NEXT DAY”

o   Maybe the two disciples were not present in verse 19 or in verse 21

o   Maybe they were there with John the Baptist but did not see the glory of Jesus

Illustration:

Ø  Paul kept on preaching. He went back to the churches where he preached before

Ø  Moses and the Prophets kept on preaching over and over again in the Old Testament

Ø  Jesus never tired of preaching over and over again (Matthew 23:27)

Challenge: Are you tired of witnessing over and over again to your unwilling family members, and friends

·        Witnessing focused on Jesus Christ

o   Behold, the LAMB of GOD – the object of witnessing is Christ (v.29,36 – v.7-8)

o   Most of us who are witnessing focus on ourselves and that’s not witnessing

o   Verse 7 and 8 of chapter 1 of John is witnessing about the light and it is obviously seen in v.29,35

THE ONLY WAY TO BELIEVE IS THERE MUST BE A WITNESSING ABOUT THE LIGHT (Romans 10:13-17)

Transition: After they heard what John the Baptist was telling about Jesus ..their believing was seen. 

Scene 2 – The Preparation

               The two disciples respond to the Gospel call. They were convicted to follow Christ. The Lord asked them what is their intention of following Him and they answered. The Lord invited to stay where He was staying until 4:00pm.

2. The Witness of God Hungers to Know Jesus Christ – How Can I Know I Believe?

·        There must be willingness to know Christ (37-39)

·        “WHAT DO YOU SEEK?” – What do you seek in believing in Christ Jesus?

o   Are you hunger for Christ?

o   Are you willing to know Christ whom you believe?

Illustration : Judas Iscariot though he was one of the disciples and witnesses many things about Jesus Christ yet his

         intention was not the will of God

         Simon the Sorcerer though he was baptized and followed Philip in preaching throughout Samaria still his

         intention was against God’s will

         They acted against God because they really did not know about God.

·        The problem in most who consider themselves Christians is lack of knowledge of Christ

o   Here are some proofs of Lack of Knowledge about Christ

§  Many Christians will choose whether they will worship God on Sunday or not

§  Many Christians are late on the appointed time by which the whole assembly will worship

§  Many Sunday School teachers tell the stories in the Bible but they neglect to emphasize Christ

§  Many Christians are afraid to bear witness about Jesus

·        The two disciples’ intention was to know who is this man whom John the Baptist (whom they followed) was talking about so they stayed with Jesus.

Insight: The book of John have a lots of encounters or meeting Jesus. For example the meeting with Nicodemus, Samaritan Woman, Blind man, and royal official and they knew Christ after the encounter.

THROUGH YOUR INTENTION AND YOUR ACTION YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST

Transition: After knowing Jesus,....One of the disciple is ready to witness about the Lord Jesus Christ

  Scene 3 – The Passion

               Andrew one of the disciple who heard and stayed with Lord Jesus Christ has a passion to witness about the Lord to his brother Simon Peter. This is the beginning of his witnessing.

3. The Witness of God Bears Witness of Jesus Christ – How Can Make Them Believe?

·        There must be a passion to witness about Christ (v.40-42a)

o   Andrew’s faith in Christ was manifested when he led a boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish to Jesus (John 6:14)

o   He led people from Bethsaida to Jesus (John 12:22)

·        We must remember that before we do witnessing to others we must test ourselves if:

o   We truly believe Christ

o   We truly know Him

o   We cannot witness if we don’t believe in Him and we do not know Him.

·        These are the 3 Basic Steps in Witnessing:

1)     Finding

·        Andrew was looking for his brother Peter to witness about the Lord

2)      Telling

·        Andrew told his brother that he found the Messiah

3)     Bringing

·        Andrew brought Peter to Jesus

YOU CANNOT PERSUADE THEM TO BELIEVE. IT IS THE HOLY SPIRT WHO WILL BUT GOD WILL USE YOU FOR THEM TO BELIEVE BY BEING A WITNESS OF JESUS CHRIST

Challenge: As a witness of Christ we must do these simple steps like what Andrew did to his brother.

III. CONCLUSION

INSIGHT:

·        Andrew believed Jesus Christ and his passion is to bear witness about the Lord Jesus

·        There is no record in the bible about his witnessing

o   But he did the witnessing in northern part (Europe and Russia – He became patron saint)

·        In Achaia, He witnessed to a wife of a provincial governor.

o   The wife believed Jesus Christ

o   The husband told to renounce her faith but she did not

o   Because of this, the husband got mad with Andrew because of witnessing

o   Andrew was tied in an X-shaped while being whipped

o   They did not crucified him to prolong his suffering

o   But even during in his execution he kept on witnessing to the passersby

·        He knows the great value of witnessing

Challenge:          You are a Christian and a Christian is a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you a witness?

 Join us in witnessing because this is our life

GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

      FIRST MOUNT ZION PALIPARAN  3/22/12

The Terms of Peace - Coming to Christ

Text : Luke 14:31-33

Theme : Invitation of Reconciliation – People Must Meet the Terms of Peace of the Coming King

Title : The Terms of Peace -  Coming to Christ

Propositional Statement : Three Preliminary Actions in Order to Meet God’s Terms of Peace

Purpose : To understand the Terms of Peace – The True nature

I. INTRODUCTION

A. The Nature of Invitation

1) The Statement of Invitation

·        Follow Me – Personal Invitation

o   The invitation of the Lord for Matthew (Luke 5:27)

o   The invitation of the Lord for Peter and Andrew (Mathew 4:19)

o   The invitation of the Lord for one who follows the Lord (Matthew 8:22)

·        Come to Me / Come After Me – Public Invitation

o   The invitation of the Lord for those who are weary and burdened (Matthew 11:28)

o   The invitation of the Lord to those who follow the Lord (Luke 9:23)

2) The Similarity in the Invitation

·        The Cost of Accepting the Invitation

o   (Luke 5:28) “and Levi got up and left everything”

o   (Matthew 4:20) “At once they left their nets and followed Him”

o   (Matthew 8:22) “..and let the dead bury their own dead.”

o   (Matthew 11:29-30) “Take My yoke upon you and learn from M,. My yoke is easy and my burden is light

o   (Matthew 9:23) “he must deny himself and carry his own cross daily and follow Me”

·        The Illustration from Abraham’s Calling (Genesis 12:1)

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you”

Note : The invitation of the Lord is not about having something we want. It is not about gaining but loosing what we value most. It will cost you everything.

·        Your Family, Your Life, Your Comfort, Your Possession

B. The Negative Proclamation – You cannot be my disciple

·        The Meaning of proclamation

o   You are not sheep of the Good Shepherd, You are not one of God’s Children, You are not Joint Heir of the King, You are not connected to the True Vine – In other word, YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN

II. BODY

A. Examining the Real Situation

·        The greatest problem of man is not the broken relationships toward others nor his needs

·        The greatest problem is that you are at war with GOD

·        And He will come soon to destroy who are not His people and it will be on the day of His coming

B. Examining the Real Strength

·        You do not have enough strength, enough resources to fight with this King

·        It means that in the end, if you are not going to surrender to Him you will be in conflict with this King and He will come to destroy you in the Last day

C. Examining the Real Solution

·        Ask for the TERMS OF PEACE OF THE KING

·        Reconciliation is the only real solution or you will be destroyed at the end of the battle

·        Take note, It is HIS terms not ours

TERMS OF PEACE

A. The Content

·        You must be willing to follow after Him and do everything He wants you to do whatever it may cost

·        That is being a true disciple of God and it is equated to a life of a slave

·        It is the end of yourself.

o   Your strength is  no longer your but His strength and you must consume this for His Will

o   Your wisdom is no longer your wisdom but His wisdom and you must consume this for His Honor

o   Your time is no longer your time but His time and you must consume this for His Praise

o   Your life is no longer your life but His life and you must use it for His Glory

o   You are His own – You are His salve without demand – Just Obey

·        It is the end of your lording over your life

·        He is now your Lord or you will meet Him in the final judgment

B. How Can I Accept His Terms of Peace? Three Preliminary Actions In Order to Meet His Terms

1)     You can only meet His terms if you COUNT THE COST

·        Accepting His terms will cost you everything.

·        It will cost you your family, It will cost you your life

·        It will cost you your easy life, your sinful life, It will cost the pleasures of your body

·        If you are going to be His disciple you must discipline yourself, you must say no to temptation and obey what He wanted you to do even it will cost you everything. Even your life

·        If you come with Him the world will hate and persecute you even those who are in your own household

NOTE : Many who called themselves Christians can no longer be found in the church and you can find them drowning

themselves in the things whom the Lord hated.

2)     You can only meet His terms if you COME IN CONTRITION

·        Man cannot accept God’s term if he is proud of himself

·        Unless He cannot acknowledge the sinfulness in him and the severity of sin in him he will never ever accept his term

·        Blessed are the poor in the spirit – meaning spiritual bankruptcy, nothing can boast, see his condition as hopeless and helpless, he is in need of a Savior.

3)     You can only meet His terms if you CONSIDER THE CHRIST’S LORDSHIP

·        The terms of the King is to acknowledge Him as King, Lord

·        It is a full submission to the Lordship of Christ

·        It is the end of yourself, you are not the master anymore of your own but a slave of God

·        And He demanded such a thing from you

III. CONCLUSION

               None of us can be a disciple of Christ unless we do not know what we headed for as a disciple, if we are still proud of ourselves and never acknowledge the sinfulness and the severity of it. We cannot be a disciple if we cannot deny ourselves, carry the cross daily and follow hard after thee. The Lordship of Christ is must be acknowledged.

Meaning to say, we are not a disciple, we are not Christian, we are not believers, we are not heirs of the promised, we are not His sons and never ever be with Him unless we gave up all who we are and all that we have for who He is.

He is not playing games with us.

                                                                                                                                                                      GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU  

                                                                                                                                                                     VISIONARY CHRISTIAN CHURCH