Where Do You Go From Here?
Intro:
1. God provided you a definite plan of salvation.
a. Jn 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that who- ever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
b. The baby in the Bethlehem stable was God’s gift to you. That’s why you celebrate Christmas.
c. The Savior on the cross was God’s gift to you. That’s why you celebrate Easter.
2. You provide the response to God’s definite plan of salvation.
a. By exposing yourself to the gospel - the word of God.
b. By putting your faith in the Lord it presents.
c. By repenting - desiring to change your life to conform with God’s will for you.
d. By making the Good Confession to verbally confirm your allegiance to Him as Lord.
e. By being baptized as an identification with the Lord & His gospel. You agree to His New Covenant!
3. What happens now?
a. The Lord said, Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- Matt 7:21.
b. Just saying you’re a Christian doesn’t make it so!
4. After you have genuinely accepted the Lord, He wants you to begin putting your faith into your life! How?
Matthew 21:28-32
I. By Seeking God’s Will
A. v28 - The father made his will known very specifically.
1. Go (ὑπάγω) = this is a command to “go quietly”.
2. Work (ἐργάζομαι) = this is a command to work, to begin producing something, make something happen.
B. You seek God’s will today by connecting with His word - the Bible. II Tim 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
1. Timothy was an excellent example of this. II Tim 3:15-17 - . . . how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for sal- vation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2. This connection can begin by becoming involved with our Sunday Bible School, our Sunday worship & home Bible Study ministry teams.
3. But - there’s no substitute for private Bible study - your individual quiet time!
4. The American Bible Society recommends this method:
a. Read the Bible passage carefully & prayerfully.
b. Read it slowly with an alert mind.
c. Read it expectantly with anticipation.
d. Seek a personal message in it.
e. Be eager to respond inwardly to it.
f. Repeat aloud verses that meet your needs.
g. Have a definite reading time each day.
h. Copy & memorize a key verse each day.
C. You seek God’s will today through prayer. Jam 1:5-6 - If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
II. By Obeying What You Find
A. v29 - Are you one of the people in the church who said “No” to God all your life but responded dramatically when confronted with the gospel?
1. The 1st son wasn’t willing - but he got up & went to work! Examples:
a. The tax collectors like Matthew & Zacchaeus.
b. Prostitutes like the women in John 8 (Jn 8:1-11) & at Simon the Pharisee’s house (Mk 14:3).
c. Persecutors of the church like Saul of Tarsus.
d. Sometimes, the greater the sinful life before conversion, the greater the com- mitment afterwards!
e. People like this live the life - they conscientiously put God’s will into their lives.
2. You are never too far gone to accept the Lord & have eternal & abundant life!
a. You may end up being the most responsive & enthusiastic for the Lord.
b. The Lord went to places where the most socially “undesirables” were & found the best reception there!
B. v30 - Are you one of the people in the church who “talk the talk” but fail to “walk the walk”?
1. The 2nd son said he was willing - but he didn’t obey!
2. The Lord said you must hear & obey His words (Matt 7:21).
3. Remember Jam 2:17 & 24 - In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead . . . You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
Do you profess a Christian Faith
but fail to express it in the way you live?
Faith that is not expressed in your behavior is dead!
Look at your lives!
Be sure you are living the way you say you are!
https://www.biblelifemessages.org