Living Epistles
Posted by: rev2 <rev2@...>
Living Epistles
2 cor. 3:2-3
Ø For the last few months we have been studying in the book of Leviticus. We have been examining the scriptural context of holiness.
Ø We have answered the question? What is holiness?
Ø We have said Holiness means being totally devoted or dedicated to God, set aside for his special use, and set apart from sin and its influence.
Ø We have studied God's call to us to live holy lives.
Ø Throughout the pages of the bible God continually calls man to a life of holiness. Why?
Ø Why is God so concerned with the concept of holiness?
Ø Let's look at 2 Cor. 3:2
Ø For I believe the Apostle Paul makes an interesting statement that will help us to understand one of the reasons God put such a big emphasis on holiness.
Ø 2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men.
Ø Paul says to the Corinthian coverts and to Christ disciples that you are living letters
Ø Have you ever thought of yourself as a letter?
Ø Have you ever thought of yourself as a living communication
Ø The vehicle through which one person's thoughts and feelings are revealed to another.
Ø Paul says that is exactly what you are.
Ø And not only does he tells us what we are but in verse 3 he goes on to explain how we were produced.
Ø He shows us the pen, ink and paper necessary to create this divine letter
Ø 3clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us,
Ø Paul like every pastor and teacher is the instrument which God uses to write his letter
Ø written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God,
Ø God chose a medium that can not be washed away, it will not fade
Ø Isaiah 40:8 says the grass wither, the flower fades but the word of our God shall last forever
Ø The Holy Spirit is the enduring influence that flows through us.
Ø not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
Ø God chooses a willing vessel, filled with his Holy Spirit to write His thoughts and feeling to his creation.
Ø But just for a moment I want to look at a few characteristics of a letter.
Ø First of all a letter is written to convey a message..
Ø If we truly are living letters of God what message has he written in us.
Ø God has designed every believer to be a deliverer of good news
Ø The gospel is the good news
Ø It is the news that God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son for the redemption of everyone who would believe and receive
Ø We were designed to convey the mind of Christ to men
Ø Men may refuse to listen to the gospel but they can not ignore the testimony of a consistent Christian life.
Ø The message we carry is an urgent message
Ø it is a needed message,
Ø it's a message of life and death
Ø Secondly a letter is written to be read
Ø Every Christian should let his Christianity be visible before the world
Ø Any believer that refuses to let his Christianity show is a stumbling block to the reason Christ saved you.
Ø Matt. 5:14 says ye are the light of the world,
Ø V.15 says let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven
Ø Those who are Christians in name only are in no sense of the term " Epistles of Christ"
Ø They are simply forged documents designed to deceive and mislead
Ø Our life and conversation ought to be an epistle to make known his praises
Ø There are many whom we associate daily who will never read the written bible
Ø Whose only hope of salvation is that they may read or hear the living epistle of your life.
Ø Not only is a letter written to be read but it should be legible.
Ø As Christians our message becomes illegible when we live contradictory lives.
Ø We live one way at church and another way at home.
Ø One way around our church family and another around our friends
Ø When our lives are inconsistent we send mix messages to an already confused world.
Ø The bible calls us to stead fast in our values,
Ø Unmovable in our beliefs,
Ø Always abounding growing and maturing in the word of God.
Ø There are many today whose message is illegible because the blots in your life.
Ø Many times my children will ask me to check their homework, which is filled with erasures and smudges
Ø And I cant see the work for the blots
Ø I cant get pass the stains and the blemishes
Ø You might be designed to carry a message of eternal truth, but all the world can see is the blots
Ø Blots of tempers, blots of vanity, blots of worliness, blots of unforgiveness
Ø More people will look at the sun when it's eclipsed, when is blotted out, than they will when it's shining
Ø The bible teaches us that the only cure for a illegible and contradictory message is a life of holiness.
Ø Every man is an open letter for Jesus Christ
Ø Every Christian whether he likes it or not is an advertisement for the kingdom of God
Ø We judge the shop keeper by the goods that he sells
Ø We judge the craftsman by the articles he produces
Ø We judge the church by the man it creates
Ø Therefore men judge Christ by his followers
Ø The greatest handicap in the church is the unsatisfactory lives of professing Christians.
Ø That's why God puts so great an emphasis on holiness
Ø That's why he commands us to be ye holy as I am holy
Ø Because he has designed us to be living letters to a dying world
Ø We are to be messages of hope to people in hopeless situations
Ø He wants us to understand the relationship between our holiness and our witness
Ø
Ø What can we do make sure our message is clear and understood?
Ø Turn to Romans 12:9 and I want to show 8 ways to be a better letter for Christ.
Ø 1. BE REAL
9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
2. BE KIND
10Be kindly affectionate (tender, caring) to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
3. BE EXCITED
11not lagging in diligence, fervent (passionate, fired up) in spirit, serving the Lord;
4. BE CONSISTANT
12rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; (whatever state I'm in…..)
5. BE GENEROUS
13distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
(Big hearted and open handed)
6. BE MEEK (humble and forgiving)
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
7. BE COMPASSIONATE
15Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (Bear one another's burdens)
8. BE HUMBLE (Christ like)
16Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
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