Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: Christ

Jordan B Peterson - Watch : The Death and Resurrection of Christ: A Commentary in Five Parts

Watch David Jeremiah's Sermon: The Fullness of Christ - Colossians 1:15-23. While it’s often said that Jesus can be seen on every page of the Bible, perhaps the best depiction of Christ is found in a few verses of Colossians chapter one. Get ready to see Jesus as perhaps you’ve never seen Him before.

John MacArthur (July-14-2022) Daily Devotional: Elect in Christ

"You are a chosen race" (1 Pet. 2:9).

Election is the spiritual privilege from which all others flow.

Unlike those who are destined to destruction because of their rejection of Christ (1 Pet. 2:8), Christians are an elect race of people, bound together by God's redeeming grace. That's cause for great celebration!

First Peter 2:9 is an allusion to Deuteronomy 7:6-9, which says, "You are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God."

Like Israel, the church is the redeemed community of God, "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit" (1 Pet. 1:1- 2). Before the foundation of the world, God placed His love on you, then brought you into His kingdom by granting you saving grace. That's the doctrine of election.

Many people misunderstand election, but it's a wonderful doctrine that brings marvelous benefits. It exalts God by demonstrating His love and grace toward miserable sinners. It eliminates pride by affirming that you are totally dependent on God's grace. It should promote such gratitude in your heart that you long to live in holiness and serve Him at any price. It should also give you joy and strength, knowing that God will never let you go and His purposes will be accomplished in you. You can face any challenge with utmost confidence in His provisions.

Rejoice in your election. Worship God and yield to His Spirit's leading so His choice of you will be evident to all who know you.

Suggestions for Prayer

• What has the spiritual privilege of being chosen by God meant in your life? Express your answer to God in prayer, thanking Him for His wondrous grace.

For Further Study

• Read Romans 5. What benefits of election does Paul mention?

John MacArthur (July-13-2022) Daily Devotional: Rejecting Christ

"For those who disbelieve, 'the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,' and, 'a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense'; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed" (1 Pet. 2:7-8).

Rejecting Christ leads to spiritual damnation.

Israel was a unique nation, chosen by God to be the guardian of His Word and proclaimer of His kingdom. The Old Testament records His miraculous and providential care for her throughout the centuries, and the prophets told of One who would come as her great Deliverer. Israel eagerly awaited the promised Messiah.

But the story has a surprise ending. In the Person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah finally came and presented Himself to Israel. The religious leaders examined Him carefully, measuring Him in every way they could. But He didn't fit their blueprint. They expected a reigning political Messiah who would instantly deliver them from Roman oppression. They felt no need for a spiritual deliverer, so they rejected Him and tossed Him aside like a worthless rock.

That rejected cornerstone is precious to believers but remains a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to unbelievers. A "stone of stumbling" was a stone on which someone tripped while walking along the road. A "rock of offense" was a rock large enough to crush a person. The point: rejecting Christ brings spiritual devastation of enormous proportions.

All who reject Christ do so because they are disobedient to the Word. Rebellion against the written Word inevitably leads to rejection of the living Word. Of such people Peter said, "To this doom they were also appointed" (v. 8). They weren't appointed to reject Christ, but to receive the judgment that their rejection demands. That's a frightening reality that should motivate you to take every opportunity to evangelize the lost.

Suggestions for Prayer

• If you have family or friends who are rejecting Christ, pray for them often, asking God to grant them saving faith.

For Further Study

• Read Romans 9:30-10:17, noting Israel's false standard of righteousness and Paul's prayer for her salvation.

Troy Black - Watch Inspirational Christian Video: Your Authority in Christ.

Have you ever wondered why you pray and nothing happens? If you are a Christian, shouldn't God hear you? The truth is that many of us are walking around with an authority problem. Jesus promised us authority in Him, but we can only access that authority when we are abiding in Him. It's His authority. Without Him in us, we have no claim to the promises of God. Jesus says in John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

John MacArthur (July-12-2022) Daily Devotional: Loving Christ

"This precious value, then, is for you who believe" (1 Pet. 2:7).

Love for Christ is the primary characteristic of a true believer.

First Peter 2:7 speaks of the believer's affection for Christ as contrasted to an unbeliever's rejection of Him. The first part of that verse could be translated, "To you who believe, He is precious." "Precious" means "valuable," "costly," "without equal," or "irreplaceable." Christ is all that, but only believers recognize His supreme value and regard Him with affection.

Affection for Christ is the bottom-line characteristic of true believers. Believing in Him and loving Him are inseparable. In John 16:27 Jesus says, "The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed." In Matthew 10:37 He says, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." Believers have a compelling and surpassing love for Christ.

To His antagonists Jesus declared, "If God were your Father, you would love Me" (John 8:42). Anyone who truly loves God will love Christ. Those antagonists claimed to be children of God, but their deception was revealed when they tried to kill Jesus for preaching God's truth. They were in fact children of the devil (v. 44).

In John 14 Jesus adds, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. . . . He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him. . . . If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words" (vv. 15, 21, 23- 24).

Many people are confused about what it means to be a Christian. But you have the privilege of clarifying the issue as you esteem Christ highly, love Him deeply, and demonstrate your love by obeying His Word. May God bless you richly as you pursue that goal today.

Suggestions for Prayer

• Ask God to give you opportunities to demonstrate Christ's love in specific ways to those around you.

For Further Study

Read 1 John 4:7-5:3.

• How did John characterize God?
• What affect should your love for God have on your relationships with others?
• How did John define love?

John MacArthur (July-11-2022) Daily Devotional: Security in Christ

"This is contained in Scripture: 'Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed'" (1 Pet. 2:6).

Christ is the fulfillment of all Messianic promises, and in Him you are eternally secure.

First Peter 2:6 is a paraphrase of Isaiah 28:16, which says, "Thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.'" Isaiah was speaking of the Messiah—the coming Christ of God. Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, applied Isaiah's prophecy to Jesus.

In Isaiah's prophecy, "Zion" refers to Jerusalem, which stands atop Mount Zion. Mount Zion is sometimes used figuratively in Scripture to refer to the New Covenant of grace, whereas Mount Sinai represents the Old Covenant of law. Isaiah was saying that God would establish the Messiah as the cornerstone of His New Covenant Temple, the church.

The analogy of believers as stones and Christ as the cornerstone would have great meaning for the Jewish people. When the Temple in Jerusalem was built, the stones used in its construction were selected, cut, and shaped in the stone quarry according to precise plans (1 Kings 6:7). Only then were they taken to the building site and set into place. The most important stone was the cornerstone, to which the various angles of the building had to conform.

God used a similar process to build His New Covenant Temple. Its stones (individual believers) are elect and shaped by the Holy Spirit to fit into God's master plan for the church. Jesus Himself is the precious cornerstone, specially chosen and prepared by the Father to be the standard to which all others conform. He is the fulfillment of all Messianic promises, and the One in whom you can trust without fear of disappointment. That means you are secure in Him!

Live today in the confidence that Christ cannot fail. He will always accomplish His purposes.

Suggestions for Prayer

• Praise God for keeping His promises and for giving you security in Christ.

For Further Study

Read Galatians 4:21-31.

• Who was the bondwoman and what did she represent?
• To whom did Paul liken believers?

Daily Devotional (July-06-2022) CHRIST THE CENTER OF GOD’S PLAN

Scripture Reference: Colossians 1:16 - ”For by Him were all things were created, that are in heaven, and that earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: --all things were created by Him, and for Him”

The center of all God’s plans and purpose is His Son, Jesus Christ. Before the creation of the World, God knew what He was going to do. The Bible says, ”Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” When we are grounded and established in God’s purpose, we get a great sense of His power. The more we get rooted into the Word, we get established more and more into God’s purpose and plans.

God is working according to His mighty power to accomplish all that He has purposed to do. God is a God of purpose. When we walk and accept His will for us, we are walking into the center plan of Him. There’s no joy than fulfilling the plans and purpose of God here on earth. We are born again to live for Him and to give Him pleasure. You don’t exist to fulfill your plans and purpose. Let your plans submit to the great purposes and plans of God. The only way you can do this, is to live in the will of the almighty God; practicing what the Word of God says.

God wants His children to be “rooted and built up” in Christ and “established in the faith.” How are we established in the faith? We are established in the faith by seeing God’s purposes and God’s great plan. Many tend to think that we are the center of all God’s plans and purposes.

PRAYER: Magnificent Father, thank you for making your purpose and plan known to my heart, that Christ is the purpose and Christ is the center of focus. I live to give you pleasure, I live to make known to the world your ultimate plan. I’m here to preach and live for Jesus Christ. Amen.

John MacArthur (July-05-2022) Daily Devotional: Union with Christ 

"You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house" (1 Pet. 2:5).

Christ is your life, and you are an integral part of what He is accomplishing in the world.

The Jewish culture of Peter's time centered on the Temple in Jerusalem. Apparently drawing from that picture, Peter used vivid language to teach that God no longer dwells in an earthly, material, temporal house, but in a spiritual house. Christ is the cornerstone, and the spiritual house He is building is comprised of individual believers.

That analogy introduces us to the first spiritual privilege Christians enjoy: union with Christ Himself. That makes Christianity utterly unique among religions. Buddhists are not said to be in Buddha. Muslims are not in Muhammad. A Confucianist is not in Confucius. Only Christians are united with and receive their spiritual life from the object of their worship.

When you came to Christ, the living stone, you also became a living stone yourself. You possess His resurrection life and draw from His spiritual resources. That's what Peter meant when he said that God "has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4).

Ephesians 2:19-22 adds, "You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." Christ is the cornerstone of the church, built on the foundation of biblical truth, which is the divine revelation given through the apostles and prophets. Rejoice in the privilege of being united with Christ and learning from His Word!

Suggestions for Prayer

• Thank God for selecting you as one of His spiritual stones. Seek His wisdom and grace in living each day to His glory.

For Further Study

• Read Acts 17:24, 1 Timothy 3:15, and Hebrews 3:6, noting what they teach about God's spiritual house.

Daily Devotional (July-02-2022) Perfection and Holiness in Christ

Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:13-16 - “So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy.”‘

Holiness is a difficult subject to grasp. The Pharisees felt they knew what it was but fell short of what Christ came to teach. They thought they were Holy by obeying the Old Testament law and all the hundreds of Rabbinical laws. Instead, Christ came to earth to die, so we could substitute His death for our sins. This is salvation. Once we accept the gift of salvation we become holy in the sight of God. We are born again as His children. As children we are motivated to live in accordance to our Father’s wishes. We live to please Him who gave Himself for us. Peter says we should live as obedient children. Le Ann Payne in her book “Listening Prayer” writes, “Only in union with Him, listening to Him and carrying out His orders, are we holy. – Those who treasure holiness and produce its fruits are the poor in spirit, the humble of the earth. They are fond of the Jesus Prayer. In one way or another they pray it over and over: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.’ They are quick to acknowledge their pride and lack of humility, repenting of it daily. – Holiness is both a quality we are given and a way. It is the way of remaining in Christ, of walking in the presence of God.” Peter tells us to think clearly and exercise self control like obedient children, not slipping back into our old ways. This comes from a relationship with God through scriptures, meditation, prayer and fellowship. Pray and ask God to reveal to you how you can live your life more holy today.

Prayer - Father, I have judged myself by so many false standards. I have seen myself with blurry vision. I have looked in a stained mirror never seeing what You see. Today, help me believe. Help me really understand that I am Your child, a joint heir with Christ. In Jesus’ name. AMEN