"How to Walk as an Effective Christian" 6 JUL 06 Transcript for In Christ Always 9 JUL 06 Transcript for Glade Branch Baptist Church, Pitkin, LA It is a pleasure to be here. The Holy Spirit brought me here today to talk about being an effective Christian. The secular agenda of our country is using our court system to instill their worldly beliefs into our children. Our children are being indoctrinated in our public school system to the way of the world and not to a biblical worldview. Our country is moving away from the original intent of our founding fathers. Let me take a minute and read something that Paul Harvey wrote in the early 1990s. If I Were the Devil I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world; I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort, instead of God's blessings; I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around; I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue; I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership; I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies; I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life, and invent machines to make it convenient; I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that life of animals are valued more than human beings; I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit; I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them; I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the minds of every family member for my agenda; I would attack then family, the backbone of any nation. I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation; I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movies screens, and I would call it art; I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled; I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agendas as politically correct; I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, the Bible is for the naive: I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional; I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are! This is the state of our nation as told by Paul Harvey. If we just ponder and reflect on the spiritual state of our nation we can see how we have failed as a church over the last fifty years. I blame the church for the state of affairs today for failing to stand up and fight. We have a Lord that is a Warrior! He wants us to fight for His Kingdom. How can I witness when it is illegal for me to bring up the name of our Lord in a public platform or on government property? No, we have been ineffective for too long and friend it stops on my watch. If we are going to change our nation we have to start with ourselves in the Body of Christ. First things first, you must repent and accept Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who died and was resurrected three days later as your Lord and Savior. You can't be a Christian, much less an effective Christian without Christ. John 3: 3 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 14: 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Friend, I tell you today, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved, other than Jesus. If you don't know Jesus and have a personal relationship with him, you will have an opportunity today to make your life right. Or maybe you have accepted Jesus, but you have been ineffective living within your sin nature. You can repent and recommit to Jesus as well. If you are ready to be saved, please email me at matthew@inchristalways.org. Once you accept Christ as your Savior what is next? Please turn to 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-28 I believe these verses are what make an effective Christian. Additionally, please see Psalm 15 because I think that makes an effective Christian as well. Today, we are going to look at 1 Thessalonians. 1Th 5:16 Rejoice evermore. 1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing. 1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit. 1Th 5:20 Despise not prophesyings. 1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1Th 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Th 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 1Th 5:25 Brethren, pray for us. 1Th 5:26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 1Th 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. 1Th 5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I see five things in this passage that will make you an effective Christian. 1. Quench not the Spirit. • Quench means to: "extinguish" or "suppress" • In our soul the Holy Spirit is represented by fire • Quenching the Spirit takes place when we do not allow the fullness of the Spirit in our lives • How do we quench the Spirit? a. By being out of the will of God b. Not praying or better yet praying wrong and not without ceasing. c. Having something against our brothers or sisters d. Failing to give God what is already his. • John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." • We must seek to keep our relationship new with God. • Give the balloon example. Talk about cultivating the Holy Spirit. 2. Despise not prophesyings • Do not disregard or neglect the instructions you receive • The Word is full of instructions and "prophesying" which guide us through our Christian lives. • Jesus taught in parables which were stories for learning • God has set among us people with a variety of gifts in order to complete his work; we must not question those who are truly called. • Ephesians 4:11 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some pastors and teachers;" • We must take instruction seriously and respect those whom God has called. 3. Prove all things; Hold fast that which is good. • As I just spoke, God has called people to a work and we must respect those who are called. • The key is holding to the teachings of the Bible and nothing else. • II Timothy 2:15 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." • II Corinthians 11: 13-15, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." • Satan can transform what look like good things into works for himself • We must grow in the Lord so that we might be able to resist his deceitfulness • 1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God: because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 4. Abstain from all appearance of Evil • 1 Peter 3:17 "For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing." • We must do more than not to appear evil on the outside, we must keep it out of our heart • Matthew 23:28 "Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." • 1 John 5:9 "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son." "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself:" 5. REJOICE EVERMORE • We as Christians have everything to rejoice about • Psalm 118:24 "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." • Romans 8:15 "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." • We should rejoice because we have victory over this world • 1 John 5:4 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." • We should rejoice because we have victory over the grave • 1 Corinthians 15:55 "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." • We should rejoice because we have victory over sin • Revelation 21:7 "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."