John #22 Is Jesus the Christ?
That you may Believe and have Life #22
John 7:25-52
I do not plan to speak with you long today, but we are about to hit the streets, literally, WHY?
Is it because we have good music here? Is this a concert venue?
Is it because we have a good religious system? Is this a good way of living?
Is it because we have good relationships and friendships here? Is this a social club?
Is it because lived a selfless life and set a great example for us to learn from and died tragically and we honor him? Is this a memorial club?
Or, is it because He IS the Christ, the Son of the Living God? And We are his Ambassadors?
What do ambassadors do? They GO as emissaries, representatives, of their Sender, their King.
Can you imagine an ambassador of the United States just sitting at the White House all the time?
So, if we are going out, as his Ambassadors, we need to quickly relate again … Is he the Christ? The Son of the Living God
Now, I am not insulting the intelligence of you, as students of the Word, but just to give you a reminder to give you some tools, and to also relate it to the world we live in, let's read and think together and then let's hit the streets
READ 7:25-52
1. What Is The Christ?
A. Definition - The Word means "Anointed One" - The TERM Messiah is only used in Ps 2:2 and Daniel 9 when it is prophesied that the Messiah would come and be "cut off" …
1.But the idea of this Anointed One is the prominent expectation of the Old Testament.
From the Old Testament Picture we know that he would have 5 purposes (Isaiah 45 - example from Cyrus)
1) chosen by God
2) appointed to redeem God's people
3) judgment of foes
4) dominion over nations
5) Everything he does is from the hand of God
2.The Messiah was to come as
1) Servant - obedient in suffering, completing God's tasks
2) Conqueror - defeating his enemies
3) God's Branch - completing his task
4) Seed of the Woman - coming as God and Man
5) Son of Man - complete in his humanity
6) Prince -
There are hundreds of prophesies …
Let's look at a few
B. Prophesy -
1. He will come from Abraham's family Gen 12:3
2. born from David's line - Is. 11:1
3. he will be perfect - Is 11:2-10
4. there will be a forerunner - Is. 40:3
5. he will suffer for our sins Is. 53
6. He will enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey
7. he will be born of a virgin Is 7; Mt 1:20
8. born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2
9. will be God and King - Is 9:6
C. Application - what is your greatest need, hope dream - that is your Christ
1.The Messiah, the thought of the Messiah was EVERYTHING that God's people longed for
He was Deliverance
He was Security
He was Hope
He was a Fresh Start
He was Love and Acceptance
He was Decision - maker / Ruler
2.What is YOUR Messiah?
a.If you are trusting in your Career for Security, if your security is tied up in Job Security, then Your Job is your Messiah
b.If you are you are trusting your 401K as your hope for the future, THAT is your Messiah
c.If you are relying on your Marriage to meet all of your needs for love and acceptance it is your Messiah
d.If you are counting on a life change, a fresh start, a new job, a new school, a new marriage, to make all the difference, then THAT start is your Messiah
That's what the Bible says about the Messiah,
We've seen what you are perhaps looking for … Definitely what your friends and neighbors are looking for … the question is …
2. Is That Jesus?
A. Does he satisfy the prophesy?
In a Word, YES -
He died a sacrifice for our sins
He came into Jerusalem on a donkey at the exact time prophesied by Daniel 9
He lived a perfect life
He was Born in Bethlehem
Born of a Virgin
Born of the line of David
Born of the family of Abraham
to a verse he satisfies every one of the hundreds of prophesies
B. Can we call him the Christ in Authenticity?
Yes he claimed all things that would make him Messiah himself.
1. he claimed to be God - Is 9:6 - the govt. will be on his shoulders … won. Coun. Mighty God, Ev. Father, Prin of Pea --
Mark 14:61-64 (NIV)
61 … Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
2. Accepted Worship as only God could do - Ex. 20:1-5 - no God's before him and bow down to none but … The Leper worshipped Jesus, a ruler knelt before him, the disciples worshipped him, a Canaanite woman, James and John's Mother, the demoniac from Geresa, a blind man, and Thomas cried "my Lord, and my God and Jesus NEVER corrected them
3. Claimed equal Authority with the Father - Mt 5:21,22 "you heard it said … BUT I SAY" … John 13:34 "a new commandment I give to you" Mt 24:35 "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never …" john 12:48 "there is a judge for the one who rejects me … that very word which I spoke will condemn"
4. Allowed for prayer offered in his Name - John 14:13,14 "whatever you ask in my name that will I do" John 15:7; John 14:6 - the path to the Father is through Christ …
Jesus connected himself with the "I Am" of the Old Testament and the promised Anointed One
So before
3. So What Are We Going to Do?
A. Lay Hold
Why did I use the examples earlier of careers, and acceptance, and hope, and a fresh start, security, and on to describe a hoped for Messiah in a life?
Because Jesus stood in the midst of a celebration that had lasted days and said, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
Those people were FULL but were STILL hungry and thirsty, they were full but still longing
Jesus was saying, if what you think you've got, what you think you need, is still leaving you empty, come to ME …
Stop reaching out for empty fills, and quick useless fixes, and lay hold of Jesus
Phil 3:12 "… I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 … forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead 14 I press on toward the goal …"
B. Lay Down
Lay down control
Lay down our attempts to make ourselves right
Lay down our plans
Lay down our lives
Deny Selves take up our crosses and follow him
C. Lay Out - the truth and present him to the world in need of the Truth
If Jesus is NOT the Christ … we don't need to go out today
We don't need to worship today
We don't have to obey his commands
We don't need to be born again
But if he is the Christ
We must give him our hearts
We must give him our lives
We must give a witness
… This is a unique day … I want to make sure you know what to do today. We aren't asking anything radical from you today, just to get out and see that it's not that bad.
Get out and pray for your communities and let people know we are here.
You will be in groups. We have a gift of a credit card sized ice scraper with our contact information and it says "we prayed for you today"
Knock on their door, or speak to them in the yard and simply say "Hi, my name is >>> and I'm from New Life Baptist Church, up the street across the street from Schnucks … we are just walking through the neighborhood praying for you and wondered if there is anything we could pray for you about."
If they say "yes" obviously, you pray for them. If they say "no" just let them know that you will be praying for them and we are here anytime they need us and we'd love to have them visit us.
I would also encourage you to listen. They may ask you Spiritual Questions and you may have an opportunity to lead someone to Christ. If you do and aren't sure what to do, let me show you again how to lead someone through what the scripture says about our sin and separation from Christ, using this soul winning New Testament.
Now, be gracious, be kind, smile, say "thank you," no matter how they respond.
If they are ugly, or hateful toward you, move on to the next house, don't worry about it, if they reject, they are rejecting Christ, not you, but still be loving and gracious
We go out today because
-Our community doesn't need another social organization, the recreation, elks, and Lions clubs have that covered.
-Our community doesn't need another music group, the radio is full of that
-Our community doesn't need another religious example of a way to live, because Jesus left us an example of perfection and there isn't a single one of us nor any in this community that can follow that example … we are Sinners and we need a Savior … we Need one Anointed to be our Savior and Friend … and that is Christ, we offer Jesus,
the Christ, the Son of the Living God!