Life: If It Only Came With Instructions

Morning Worship Service - 1/22/06

 

I. Review

(Illustration: Make sure to have the large Bible under the pulpit and a thin children’s book from the library, and then ask the congregation, if they were given the choice, which book would they pick to read?)

- From what statistics tell us, well over half of us here this morning would rather read the smaller book or no book at all.

Ä Several years ago the National Household Education Department did a survey in which they discovered that less than 50% of the population, age 25 and over, read a newspaper at least once a week, read one or more magazines regularly, or had read a book in the past 6 months.

Ä Now while there are probably many factors that play a part in this statistic, one issue that is without a doubt a factor is the pace of American society. Things are moving too fast and there is too much to do in order to take time to read.

- Well, in this series concerning the instructional manual for life, the whole basis of the series depends on individuals choosing to take the time to read, and specifically taking time to read the Word of God - the Bible - God’s instructional manual for our lives.

Ä However, like the overall reading statistics of Americans, the reading statistics of the Bible aren’t much better:

ü In the year 2005, 45% of Christians surveyed said that they read their Bibles throughout a week

ü Of that 45% women at 50% are more likely to read their Bible during the week than are men at 39%

ü And overall Bible reading during a typical week drops as age drops: 53% of Elders (Builders and Seniors); 47% of Boomers; and 39% of Busters and 33% of Mosaics read the Bible in a typical week.

Ä Again, there are a number of different factors contributing to these statistics, one of them being our busy and constantly on the go schedule - we have a hard time trying to fit it into our schedule.

Ä However, another factor, that we considered last week that so often discourages people from reading God’s instructional manual for life is the fact that to some this book just seems way to large and therefore overwhelming. To some, every time they look at the Word of God, it appears to them to look like this huge copy of the Bible.

Ä As a result, knowing where to begin or picking a place to start reading, along with knowing how to comprehend the amount of content and information found within this book, become legitimate concerns and problems. 

- Well, for this particular study, we wanted to try and eliminate as many of those concerns and problems as possible, and we said we were going to try and do that by focusing our attention on one particular section of this instructional manual.

- And so, as I had you do last week, I will once again begin by having you turn in your Scriptures to Matthew chapter 17

 

II. The Instructional Manual

A. Where to Begin

(READ Matthew 17:1-5)

- Folks, in this absolutely amazing passage, we are given a focus for our attention - a place to start and key in on in our study of this instructional manual for life.

Ä In this passage God, the author of this instructional manual, the one who is totally reliable and dependable, gives us the instruction to hear or listen to His Son, Jesus Christ

Ä Which means that for this study we are going to listen to God’s instructions and narrow the focus of our study of this instructional manual down to the teachings and instructions of Christ.

Ä And basically all of these teachings and instructions can be found within the first four books of the New Testament - which we will be our focus.

 

B. Reasons to Focus On Christ’s Teachings and Instructions

- Now as we wrapped up our time last week, we began to try and answer the question:

è Why Christ?

è Why make our focus simply Christ’s teachings and instructions?

 

Reason #1

- Well, the first and only reason that we gave last week, was based on our text here in Matthew 17 and that is that God, the author of this book and the one who cannot lead us away from truth, instructs us to listen to His Son.

- And in addition to God’s instruction, we also took the time to look at Deuteronomy 18, where we find God clearly warning us about not listening to His Son

- Therefore, if God gives us this instruction, and also takes the time to warn us if we don’t follow his instruction, than we had better listen!

Ä God tells us to hear His Son, therefore we should do it.

 

Reason #2

- This morning, with the time that we have remaining, I would like for us to consider two other reasons as to why we should make Christ’s teachings and instructions our focus not only for this study, but also for our lives.

- And like the first reason, the second one can also be found in Matthew 17

(READ Matthew 17:1-3)      

 

- Now last week, as I introduced this text for you I told that what we have described for us here in these verses is really one of the most amazing accounts recorded for us in all of the Bible.

- And one of the reasons that it is one of the most amazing accounts recorded in the Bible is because of the fact that found within these verses that we just read is one of the greatest confirmations concerning who Christ truly was, and therefore the second reason why Christ’s teachings and instructions should be our primary focus.

 

 

- You see within these verses that we just read together we find one of the greatest confirmations of the fact that Jesus is deity - Jesus is the very Son of God.

- Now we can find this confirmation in a couple of different ways:

Ü Confirmation #1 and probably the most obvious, is the testimony given by God himself in verse 5 (READ Matthew 17:5)

Ä Out of a bright cloud, God the Father audibly spoke with Peter, James and John, and declared to them that Jesus Christ was in fact His Son.

Ä And by declaring that, he was really disclosing the fact  that Christ was identical in nature and essence with Him - God the Father.

Ä Christ was deity - the Son of God, and God declared that to be true.

- Now while this is the obvious confirmation concerning the deity of Christ, there is still a second confirmation in the text that isn’t quite as obvious.

Ü Confirmation #2 and that can be found in verse 2 of our passage (READ Matthew 17:2)

Ä We are told in this verse that when they arrived on top of the mountain that Jesus Christ was transfigured so that his face shone like the sun and his garments became as white as light.

Ä Now this little bit of information wasn’t included just to add to the effect of the whole scene. This information truly is important, and to understand the importance of this whole seen including this information about Christ’s face and garment shining like the sun and a light, it requires us to consider another passage or two.

Ä You see, as you read through this instructional manual, we are told of someone else who had a similar situation happen to him. Leave your finger here in Matthew 17 and turn back into the Old Testament to the book of Exodus chapter 34.

(READ Exodus 34:29-30)

Ä Similar to Jesus Christ in Matthew 17, here we are told about Moses coming down from a mountain and his face was a lit up, shining like a light. Which should lead us to ask...

è What was Moses doing up on that mountain that would cause his face to shine like a lightbulb?

 

Ä Well, to answer that, just flip back a page to chapter 33.

(READ Exodus 33:7-11)

Ä You see folks, when Moses was up on that mountain, he was spending time in the very presence of God. And throughout Scripture, the presence of God is often described as light.

è Psalm 89:15 says, “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.”   

Ä Therefore as a result of spending a substantial amount of time in God’s very presence, the light of God’s presence caused Moses’ face to light up like a lightbulb.

Ä So when Moses walked away in chapter 34 to go and talk with the people, the effect of the presence of God stayed with him for awhile - his face was still shining bright and it was all because of the presence of God.

 

Ä Now let’s flip back to Matthew chapter 17.

ü Like Moses, Christ’s face was described as shining like the sun.

ü But the thing that makes this situation different from Moses and at the same time makes this situation one of the greatest confirmations of Christ’s deity, is the fact that the source of the light that was causing Christ’s face to shine as the sun was coming from within.

Ä In Moses’ situation, the cause for his face shining bright was an outside lightsource - the presence of God.

Ä Here in Matthew 17 we are told that Christ was transfigured - meaning that for a brief moment of time, Christ changed into another form. And as a result of this change in form a light shone from within that not only lite up his face but also his clothes.

Ä This light coming from within, as we compare it to other Scriptures like the one found in Exodus, proves to us that when Jesus was transfigured, he allowed the three disciples to see who he really was - he was transformed into DEITY.

Ä Peter, James and John, like Moses, were able to spend a few moments here on this earth in the very presence of God - what a special privilege.

 

- Folks, the second reason that I want to share with you this morning as to why we should make Christ’s teachings and instructions a focus for our study and our lives is because of the fact that Christ is in fact deity - HE IS THE SON OF GOD!!

Ä Therefore if Jesus is deity, than all those terms that we considered a few weeks ago concerning God the Father are also true of God the Son - Jesus Christ.

Ä Which means Christ’s teachings are totally reliable, completely in line with truth, totally dependable, and unable to lead us away from that which is right.

Ä Therefore, we have another reason why his teachings and instructions should be our primary focus.

 

- So folks, thus far we have considered the fact that Christ’s teachings and instructions should be a focus of our study and our lives...

ü because God has commanded us to do so, and along with that command gave us a warning if we would choose not to follow it.

ü because Jesus is deity, which guarantees that his instructions are totally reliable and dependable and unable to lead us away from truth

- Now while these are two substantial reasons why we should focus on and listen to Christ, there is still one last reason that I would like to share with you this morning. And this reason could possibly be the most compelling reason of them all.

Reason #3

- You see folks, this whole series, which we have just been laying the groundwork for over the past three weeks, has been built on the assumption and described as a series that would address issues and give instructions for areas that everyday people like you and me struggle with on an everyday basis.

- Now in our laying of groundwork, we have said that we are going to find these instructions in the word of God and primarily we will be focusing our attention on the instructions of Jesus Christ

 

Ä And one of the reasons that we just said we are going to do this is because Christ is deity - he is the Son of God.

- However for some, this one reason of Christ being deity, is really a very good reason to not listen to and focus their attention on Christ.

Ä You see, for some, this is a good reason not to listen to Christ because many people have come to the place in their lives where they think of God as being far removed from human life and concerns.

Ä I mean let’s face it, you can’t see God, touch God, here God audibly.

è So how can he be real enough to relate to my everyday life and everyday issues that I struggle with?

Ä So even though Jesus may be deity and totally reliable and dependable,  because we are an emotional people, we also want someone who can be sympathetic and understanding to us.

è Because ultimately, why should I listen to someone give me instructions for everyday life issues if He can’t relate to any of those issues in the first place?

 

- Well, in light of that concern, I would have you turn over to Hebrews chapter 4

(READ Hebrews 4:14-16)

- Folks, I hope you caught what this passage was saying about the Christ who is deity and who should be our focus for life. Here we have Jesus being described as our high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

Ä You see, even though Jesus is deity, it really is impossible for us to also describe him as far removed, out of touch, uncaring and unsympathetic.

Ä And it’s impossible to describe him in that way, because right here, before our very own eyes, we also see him being described as an individual who can sympathize with our weaknesses.

Ä SYMPATHIZE: Now to sympathize with someone means that you share the feelings or ideas of another, and here we are told that Christ shares the feelings of our weaknesses.

Ä WEAKNESSES: And those weaknesses are referring to our feebleness, infirmities, and all the other natural limitations of humanity. (It is in no way referring to acts of sin)

- So, Jesus Christ, who we have seen very clearly described as being deity, also has the ability to sympathize and understand our feebleness and natural limitations of being human.

è BUT HOW???

Ä And while I think we all might know the answer to that, I just want to be perfectly clear as to how this all can be.

(READ Philippians 2:5-8)

(READ John 1:1-2,14)

Ä You see folks, one of the most amazing things about Christ, and one of the reasons that we should make his teachings and instructions the focus of our lives is the fact that even though he was deity and in the very form of God, he chose to put that aside for awhile, in order that he might take on the form of a human being, and in doing so take on all the limitations and infirmities of being human.

Ä And we are told that he did all of that for you and for me