Be (Super-) Natural

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Be (Super-) Natural</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id385.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="To Make A Difference, Be Different"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id389.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Be (Super) Natural: Relationships"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Be (Super-) Natural"  Matthew 5:17-30, 47-48</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, 6-15-03am</B></div> <bR> <div>      What You'd Get if 99% Were Good Enough</div> <div> * No phone service for 15 minutes each day.</div> <div> * 1.7 million pieces of first class mail lost each day.</div> <div> * 35,000 newborn babies dropped by doctors or nurses each year</div> <div> * 200,000 people getting the wrong drug prescriptions each year</div> <div> * Unsafe drinking water three days a year.</div> <div> * Three misspelled words on the average page of type.</div> <div> * 2 million people would die from food poisoning each year. (Source unknown; Bible.org, "Standards")</div> <div>      We will learn from <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:17-30" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>Matthew 5:17-30</U></A> that when it comes to being in the kingdom of God, 99% goodness is not enough.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. To build a life in the kingdom of God, a higher-than-human standard is required.</B></div> <div> A. The principle stated (vss. <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:17-20" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>17-20</U></A>, <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:47-48" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>47-48</U></A>). </div> <div> 1. Righteousness (right standing before God, right living) is first a matter of the heart (vs. 20).</div> <div>      The Pharisees  were well-known for their "Public Displays of Righteousness." They wanted everyone to see their prayers, their fasting, and their giving. But Jesus is saying that outward righteousness alone always falls short of the standard.</div> <div> 2. We must be perfect (vs. 48).</div> <div>      This statement compares to "be holy as I [God] am holy," originally in Lev 19:2, and quoted in 1 Peter 1:16. The Pharisees might have been able to claim 99% conformity to the Law and to their own rules. But they fell far short of perfect. Jesus calls us to an impossible standard. This helps us realize we cannot achieve it on our own. This also helps us realize that it is first and foremost a matter of the heart.</div> <div> B. The principle applied (vss. 21-30; six examples in all).</div> <div> 1. Murder and Anger (<A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:21-26" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>vss. 21-26</U></A>).</div> <div>      Not only is murder wrong, anger and hatred are wrong also. Anger and hate go together (hate is often the outpouring of anger). Deal with your anger and broken relationships. Deal with the <I>heart</I> of the matter first.</div> <div> 2. Adultery and Lust (<A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Matt+5:27-30" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>vss. 27-30</U></A>).</div> <div>      Not only is adultery wrong, lust is wrong also. Deal seriously with it. Lust is ultimately <I>not</I> a matter of the eye, it is a matter of the heart.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. You can live supernaturally, from the inside out.</B></div> <div>      Always be moving in the direction of what you are going to be. By being in relationship with Jesus, the perfect fulfillment of the Law, we ultimately will be made perfect before God. We must not be content or complacent with merely the "natural" way we are. Anger and hatred are so natural. Lust is so natural. But we are not called simply to be "natural." Jesus calls us to a higher standard.</div> <div>      You might say, I'll never arrive until Jesus comes, so what's the point? The point is, Jesus is in the process <I>right now</I> of transforming you to become like him. Someone has said, Jesus invites us to come to him just as we are, but he loves us too much to leave us that way.</div> <div> A. Get a new heart.</div> <div>      It is not, "get perfect and you can get in." It is, "get in and you will become perfect." Romans 3:20-24 says, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous [to be righteous is to conform to God's standard] in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."</div> <div> B. Call upon the power of God every day, as often as necessary.</div> <div>      Phil 2:13 says, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him" (NLT). Sometime back the Associated Press carried this report: "Glasgow, Ky.-Leslie Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood and discovered that someone had stolen the motor." The Holy Spirit is the motor that allows the spiritual life to run. You cannot live spiritually without him.</div> <div> C. Confess every sin, immediately.</div> <div>      When we confess, we agree with God about our sin. Don't get so used to your own sinfulness that you forget that God hates it. 1 John 1:9 says, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong" (NLT).</div> <div> D. Accept forgiveness after you confess.</div> <div>      If God forgives and releases us from the obligation of our sin, accept the release and quit holding it against yourself. You did not sin against yourself in the first place. He promises to forgive you when you confess; accept his forgiveness and move on in obedience.</div> <div> E. Progressively replace patterns of sin with godly habits. </div> <div>      Build good habits of Bible reading, prayer, time spent with other believers, and humble service to God and others. These are some basic habits that help you live as God wants you to live, moving in the direction of perfection, to which he ultimately taking you.</div> <bR> <div>      "A man who lived on Long Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home, he as extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck, pointing to the sector marked `HURRICANE.' After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. The following morning on the way to his office in New York, he mailed the letter. That evening he returned to Long Island to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer's needle had been right-there was a hurricane!" (Our Daily Bread). It is dangerous to ignore God's standard. Don't assume it is wrong. Don't assume that it could not possibly be right. Recognize what God requires, and recognize that it begins with getting a new heart from him.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2003, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>