Last week, we looked at Matthew 12: 22-30, where the talk
title was “Clean your house”. If you
would like to read that sermon, you can do it on my blog…
It revolved around
the cleaning out of those things in your physical house, as well as your body,
being the temple of the Holy Spirit, of things that are not Godly or God
honouring. Not Giving Satan a foothold in your life.
The point of the sermon based on Proverbs 3:33 which states:
“The Lord ’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he
blesses the home of the righteous.”
I asked you if you wanted to be blessed or cursed? We all
agreed that we want to be blessed!
Then that meant you needed to do two things:
1. Do a spring clean of your physical house:
Find anything that is not supposed to be there, and get rid of it.
2.
Do a spring
clean of your spirit: Get rid of anything that gets in the way of your
relationship with God.
That talk was the foundation that focuses on the
relationship between you and God.
Today’s talk builds on that foundation and adds your relationship
with others.
Title: “What good are
you?”
This question can be explored from multiple angles:
·
From the outside – What are you good at.
·
From the inside – The goodness you contribute as
a person.
This is the question that is asked of us almost everywhere
we go.
People want to know what value we can add to them and what
kind of a person you are.
Especially, in the business sector, when you sit for an
interview… the interviewer asks you questions to determine if you have anything
to offer their company. If they feel you are good enough, they will employ you.
If not, then they won’t.
Do you remember the first few interviews you ever went for?
They we nerve wrecking!
I remember the first few interviews I ever went for. Almost
all of them asked, “Tell me about yourself. Why should we employ you?” umm…
ahhh…. Ummm…Well, I like dogs…?
There is that saying which says, “Know thyself”. (Now, I
don’t know if it’s in the Bible or not, but there is wisdom it).
Only if you know yourself, will you be able to honestly answer
this question, “What good are you?”
There are three main categories:
1- Very Low: So many people have a very low self-esteem
and to answer that question raises up a whole lot of feelings of depression,
sadness, anxiety, and low self-worth because they have been constantly told
that they are of not good.
2- Very High: And this is not helped by other people are
so arrogant that they are oblivious to their own faults as they continue down
the road of destruction in their own lives, whilst affecting the lives of
others.
3- The Middle: Then there is the middle ground – Humility
– the people who are humble. The Bible tells us that walking in humility is
walking with God. These people confidently know what good they are.
What sets humble people apart from the other
two; is they quietly go about their business doing good for others, whilst the
others hardly do anything.
We need to be on the middle ground.
In that light, let’s explore the answer to this question –
“What good are you?”
Context:
Jesus in a Synagogue and he is being questioned by the Pharisees. (It was as if he was on trial.)
Matthew 12 (last week’s text included for
context).
22
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus
healed him, so that he could both talk and see.
23
All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they
said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives
out demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided
against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I
drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then his house can be plundered.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then his house can be plundered.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
TODAY’S TEXT:
31 And so I tell you, people will be
forgiven every sin and blasphemy. But blasphemy against the Spirit will not be
forgiven.
32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son
of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not
be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
·
If
we look at these two verses we are told something very important:
o
We
are sinners who blaspheme against Jesus, AND, we matter so much that we WILL be
forgiven of those things. We are good enough to be forgiven.
o
BUT,
we must not forget our place. We are not good enough to be above God, or play
God.
o
Here,
both, low self-esteem and arrogance are challenged.
§
Low
self-esteem = encouraged to step up to the middle… because of the cross
(forgiveness)
§
Arrogance
= warned not think too highly of oneself but to step down to the middle… because
of the cross (forgiveness)
o
Humility
= The middle ground is where we should be.
·
Arrogance of the Pharisees blasphemed against the
work of the Holy Spirit by claiming that the miracle Jesus performed was the
work of Satan (v24), instead of the Holy Spirit.
·
The unforgivable sin is the deliberate refusal to
acknowledge God’s power in Christ. It’s the knowledge of what Jesus has done on
the cross for you, refuse to accept it and give God the middle finger, hardening
your heart and telling God you don’t want anything to do with it. Then live
like that until the day you die.
·
“Jesus said they will never be forgiven – not
because their sin is worse than any other, but because they will never
ask for forgiveness. Whoever rejects the prompting of the Holy Spirit removes
themselves from the only force that can lead them to repentance and restoration
to God.”[i]
33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be
good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by
its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are
evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 Good people bring good things out of the
good stored up in them, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil
stored up in them.
36 But I tell you that people will have to
give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and
by your words you will be condemned.”
This
scene must have been electric!!!
Jesus
tells the Pharisees, after listening to them, that they are a brood of vipers
who are evil because they questioned the work of the Holy Spirit.
He,
pretty much gets up in their face and says, “Who do you think you are to
question this!?”
Jesus
answers the question for us. He says it depends on what is stored up in us, in
our hearts: Good or Evil? (vs 35)
This
text reveals three areas we must focus on:
What good am I to…
1.
Myself?
- what do you say about yourself? Good things or Bad?
You are forgiven and God has saved you. You are
worthy and you’re good enough. So check your attitude, maybe you’re being
warned or encouraged towards humility.
2.
God?
– What do you say about God?
How often are
we like these Pharisees ourselves when we hear about the Holy Spirit doing
something, in another church, and because it doesn’t fit with our
understanding, and like the Pharisees, we question it?
Or question His work here because we don’t have
the same things happen here like in the other churches?
3.
Those
around me? – What do you say about others who are also forgiven by God? (people
who are of a different race than you?)
Jesus
tells us, on Judgement day, we will be held accountable to every word we speak.
Our words will either acquit us or condemn us.
So
we really need to mind what we say.
Every,
Single, day, we have an opportunity to assess where our hearts are by simply
what comes out of our mouths.
Vs.
34 “For
out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Do
you say good things or bad things?
Let
me tell you a secret…
The success of a church is dependent on its
members not on how well sermons are preached!
How
we act and speak, either grows the Kingdom of God or we side with Satan and
destroy it.
Which
side are you?
What
good are you?
The
interview you face daily asks; if you will accept the work that Jesus did on
the cross for you when He died in your place for you to receive the forgiveness
of sins?
-
To ask for forgiveness and not
live the unforgivable sin until the day you die.
If
you have accepted that, then you have pasted the “interview”. Now you’re part
of the Kingdom and God knows what good you are to help build His Kingdom.
You are in!
and
here’s the cool part… NOW, the Holy Spirit, who worked with Jesus in our text
almost two thousand years ago, is in YOU!
The Holy Spirit, in you, wants to do nothing other than
good. There is goodness in you which needs to be poured out. The Holy Spirit
craves to do good, with you, wherever He needs too. Not only within yourself,
but also, through you to others.
YOU ARE LIKE A
GOODNESS BOMB READY TO EXPLODE!
So as people who are
part of the Kingdom we need to ask, “HOW GOOD IS YOUR CHURCH?”
You are the church!
When people come here, will they experience goodness?
·
No, if no
one helps…
·
Most
definitely, if you do help…
What
is coming out of us? Is it good or its it evil. We’re in this together. And I'm
not talking only about BMC. I'm talking about the Church worldwide.
I
have been here for 10 months now and I want to applaud YOU for being amazing
people. I have heard, on a countless number of times, how BMC makes people feel
like they belong here. You people make me proud! I am honoured to be your
minister.
Today
I am giving you an opportunity to, once again, show Kimberley how good you are,
by taking this food bag and fill it, so that you are part of feeding the poor. Go
filled those bags which the required goods listed and bring them back to
church.
Also,
to take this envelope and prepare it for the harvest intake on the 4 December
2011 (Money goes into mission).
What
good are you?
You
are priceless because you have the Spirit of God in your hearts!
How
good are we as a church?
Jesus
spoke about a tree the produces fruit. If we were the tree, what fruit are we
producing together? Good or bad fruit?
God
has got faith in us to produce good fruit. I believe we will!
Let
us prove Him right!
Know thyself and walk humbly with God.
Turn to one another and say, “YOU matter to us”.
