SundaySermon - George Ebenezer - Authentic Spirituality

 Authentic Spirituality

Verse: Matthew 7:21‭-‬23

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 

22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 

23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

The three verses have three things we will learn

  • Outwardness - Verse 21
  • Giftedness Verse 22
  • Lostness - Verse 23

Outwardness

Often times, we are bothered by our outwardness. We are concerned by what other people think of us. And so sometimes, we remind ourselves with catchy statements.   

  • Talk the talk: Wisdom.... we like smart and clever speech..... But speech without action is undesirable
  • Walk the talk: The genuine walk is when we live it ..... This is what the world would like to see
  • Talk the walk: We talk about other people who have been successful. And in church circles, the ideal walk is Jesus. All we do is talk about Jesus.  
  • Walk the walk: What we are called to do is ....  walk the way Jesus walked. It does not matter what the world will think of you.
We are called to Walk the way of Jesus walk. And that is the meaning of .... He who does the will of the Father. The will of the Father is the Truth  

The Truth does not change lives.... it is Truth applied that changes lives

The application of truth is difficult.... but just stay close to Jesus. And you will discover the will of the Heavenly Father. But always remember

God's will is totally sovereign gloriously redemptive, sometimes puzzling,  but always perfect.

It is important to trust God and his will for your life

Giftedness

The giftedness makes us attractive. We need to know that our source is Jesus. But we need to remember

All gifted person need not necessarily be spirit filled. But all Spirit filled person will definitely be gifted

Our dependence is often drawn by people. But God wants us to depend on Him. 

Our giftedness needs to be .... Alway speaking on behalf of God and to AS GOD

Lostness

The secrets in the Kingdom of God is precious. We need to remember

The secret comes from the secret place

So we need to remember and keep at being close to God. Lostness is place where we don't realise it until it is very late. So John Wesley's mother warned her boy 

"Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself." - Susanna Wesley

Here is a mother who is careful to point out several areas that we need to watch out. If we are careful we will not be in a place of lostness.

Conclusion

So our action point in these areas here

  • Outwarness - Let us focus on our inner man
  • Giftedness - Let us desire on being Spirit filled
  • Lostness - Let us acknowledge our need for God
Our inauthentic lives makes the whole message of Christ ineffective....... Let us recommit our lives to Jesus to walk the walk

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