Sermons and Devotionals from Merced

Learning to walk in the light with confidence

Introduction:

1) As a baby I was given milk and learned to crawl.

2) As a toddler I was spoon fed and learned to take my first steps.

3) As a young child I began to feed myself and learned to walk with confidence.

So too it is with the word of God.

4) This lesson is intended to encourage all Christians, new, young, and old alike, to learn to walk in the light with confidence.

Thesis: All Christians must learn to walk with Christ from the start of their new life to the end of their days -- just as newborn babes learn to grow to maturity.

1John 1:7 Reads, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Discussion:

I. The newborn babes in Christ.

A. First I would like to address the newborn babes in Christ. This is the person that through faith and obedience to God’s word, has placed themselves in Christ through baptism, becoming a new creature in His Kingdom and becoming one of His children. This is where we need the nurturing milk of God’s word. As babes in Christ we are still weak and can soon spiritually fail to thrive if for various reasons we push aside or stop consuming the lessons taught to us about our Lord Jesus Christ, -- so early detection of difficulties and a steady flow of his word, are necessary to build ourselves up spiritually. Just as a baby needs milk to physically survive, a babe in Christ needs God’s word to spiritually thrive.

1) Lets turn to 1Peter 2:1-3. “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

2) Have you heard of “Failure to Thrive Syndrome?” I have a quote from the “THRIVE ONLINE MEDICAL LIBRARY” from the WWW that describes this syndrome as, “A failure of growth in infants, toddlers, children, preschoolers, school age children, or adolescents to meet realistic expectations dew to genetic, physical, psychological, or social factors.” These are babies or small children that for whatever reason stop reacting to life supporting stimulus, withdraw from life, and stop growing. These babies can soon die if someone doesn’t intervene.

3) We can make a spiritual comparison of this syndrome to new Christians as babes in Christ. Psychological and social factors continually interfere with the spiritual life of all Christians on a daily basis -- and new Christians are the most at risk. We all know that we need nourishment to live, -- what we need to do is recognize the traps and snares (social and psychological factors) that hinder our spiritual growth -- so we can continue to receive that which gives us strength. Just as parents guard, protect, and nurture their babies, we too are spiritually guarded and protected through fellowship with Christ and are nurtured with His word.

4) Parents -- aren’t your babies a joy to watch? They go through a series of trial and error when they learn to walk for the first time, all the wile looking toward you for help and encouragement. They take a step and you clap your hands to express your joy in the marvelous feat of a simple step -- and when they fall you rush to support and comfort them. With loving support your baby perseveres because he or she learns that someone is there for them.

5) I remember when my daughters started to walk for the first time. Linda an I couldn’t have been happier watching them and the joy never diminished from one child to the next, -- only the picture taking did, -- you can ask Alta about that. Every time it looked as if they would fall near a coffee table or something that they could get hurt on -- we would guide them away from that harm. I like to picture in my mind our Lord doing the same for us.

6) We too stumble and fall in our spiritual infancy, as expected, but soon learn through perseverance and repentance to take those first steps toward Him knowing that He loves us and wants nothing else for us than success -- and I know that He is there to pick us up. The new babes in Christ can take comfort in knowing that He is there for them.

7) We gain our strength as babes in Christ from the fundamentals of Gods word, some of which are; The necessity of faith that comes with hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), of belief that Jesus is the Son of God (Mark 16:16), of confessing Christ aloud (Romans 10:9-10), of repentance which puts us back into the light so we won’t perish (Luke 13:3), of the importance of baptism where God’s Grace is (Romans 6:3-6), of faithful Christian living (1 Corinthians 15:58) and the necessity of worship and fellowship. Most of these place us in Christ but all of them keep us in Christ.

8) We grow stronger spiritually by studying and applying the scriptures to our lives so let us not forget our goal; To learn to walk in the light as He is in the light as we have read in 1John1: 7, so we can begin to walk with confidence and not experience a spiritual “Failure to Thrive Syndrome” of our own.

Let us pray for the babes in Christ. “Holy Father we love You. We thank You for Your plan of salvation that placed us in Christ Jesus, whom is Your grace, and we thank You for Your Son through whom we pray. We pray for strength and comfort. We pray to be good stewards of the fruit of Your Spirit, the love, joy and peace, the longsuffering, kindness and goodness, the faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Nourish us with your word and forgive us our sins as we repent them. Through Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.”

II. The young in Christ.

A. Now we’ll move on to the young in Christ. I’m going to spend the most time on this section because there are so many stumbling blocks hindering our young people and the young Christian. This is the category I am in. Not because I’m a young man but because I’ve been a Christian only since Nov. 98 and can relate the most to the dangers facing this group.

1) Have you as a young man or young lady ever make a deliberate choice to do the wrong thing? I think we all have. As a young man I’ve made plenty wrong choices deliberately. I remember when I was about 12 years old my brothers George, Scott and I were in our parents room. George was cleaning the 22.cal. pump rifle while Scott and I were horsing around as kids do. All of a sudden the rifle went off, the bullet grazed the calf of Scott’s leg, deflected from the carpet covered concrete floor and into the closet wall. As you might guess we knew we were in trouble big time and it scared us to death knowing just how close we were to a deadly accident, so we covered up the incident by blaming the hole in the carpet on our mother’s poodle. My mother didn’t learn the truth of this for at least 25 years. We should have done the right thing and told the truth right away. It would have saved me years of fear and guilt.

2) Young people the world over also seem to do wrong things to test their boundaries. They lie about where they have been, whom they have been with, and what they were doing at the time. Young Christians certainly are no different; after all, young Christians are people too. At times they make the deliberate decision to go against God’s will, thinking that if no one sees them, no one will know. Unlike the loving and trusting parent at home that can’t always keep an eye on their child, there is One that sees everything we do, and if it is a sin, it is counted against us.

3) There is nothing new in this world. The youth might think their secrete thoughts, feelings, actions and ideas are new because they are new to them but the only difference between the youth of our time and the time Christ walked the earth is the advancement of technologies. Mankind’s character seems to have been fairly constant throughout time -- this is very evident by comparing the people of the Old Testament to today’s society. The first thing we should be taught in life -- is that life is a lesson that is continually taught. Just as the babe in Christ learned to take his first steps, falling now and again, the young Christian, mostly being his own stumbling block, will fall at times too.

4) Another stumbling block for the young Christian today is to become dull of hearing or in today’s term, becoming bored and not listening or participating. The Hebrew of the first century was rebuked for these same

lazy attitudes. Instead of paying attention, exercising their minds and fulfilling their potential by practicing what they were taught, they did little or nothing to grow in the Lord.

5) We can find an example of this in Hebrews 5:12-14 Read from the Bible.

6) The Hebrews must not have been paying too much attention if they needed to be taught again. They should have been ready to teach but did not become practicing, participating servants.

7) The young Christian can also error dew to poor judgments such as taking any person’s word as the truth without researching the facts, deciding for them selves what truth is, giving misguided glory to man, and other such things. Without correction, the young Christian will be spiritually lost. A good example of this is given in the first letter to the Church in Corinth. The young Christians at Corinth were dividing themselves and creating several cliques.

8) Lets take a look at 1Corinthians 1:10-17. Read from the Bible.

9) We can finish the thought by turning to 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 Read from the Bible.

10) Even though these rather young Christians have not yet been feed solid food, they should have been ready, willing and able to receive it. Just as parents correct their children when they show poor judgment, Paul corrected the Corinthians minds from worldly wisdom to spiritual wisdom, teaching them that sectarianism (or divisions) is carnal sin.

11) Thanks to God’s plan we can still have forgiveness if we learn from our errors and repent, not to return to the deception that keeps us from Him who loves us. As we are corrected our repentance will put us back in the light with Him where His blood cleanses us from all sin as stated in 1John1: 7. After all isn’t it the young Christians goal to walk in the light with confidence too? At this point in our Christian lives we should know that Christ is the power and wisdom of God, and Glory is only in the Lord.

12) Just as the toddler that is spoon-fed solid food gains strength and begins to walk on his own, young Christians also need to receive a more solid, balanced diet of God’s word to grow and walk spiritually. This continued spiritual growth is obtained of course by focusing on spiritual living; regular attendance on Sundays to worship God, coming to the bible studies to receive a more in-depth understanding of God’s word, and coming to fellowship at every opportunity where we are nurtured by an attentive spiritual family.

13) As we read in 2 Timothy 2:15 the young Christian needs to, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

14) Also, just as a child learns to communicate with his parents as a part of his growth, we know from John 5:14-15 that the young Christian also need to communicate with our spiritual Father. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

15) Now that we are no longer babes in Christ and are gaining the tools necessary to survive as a young Christians: Such as being attentive to God’s instruction by spiritual living, studying His word, worshiping Him, fellowshipping with Him, and opening communication through prayer; we can find the confidence to continue to walk in the light as He is in the light more on our own.

Let us pray for Young Christian. “Holy Father, Thank you for your word that corrects us. We pray that young Christians take heed to the spiritual wisdom Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians. Let all of us as Christians confirm that the Holy Spirit teaches us to compare spiritual things with spiritual by being more spiritual in our lives and not confusing spiritual wisdom with worldly wisdom. Help us Father to have the strength as young Christians to resist the carnal wisdom of the worldly man so we can grow and begin to receive and understand the solid food of Your wisdom. Give us the strength to continue daily in Your word and not fall away from your saving grace. Heavenly Father guide, guard and protect us even from ourselves as young Christians by being with us as we study your word where Your guidance, guardianship through grace and protection is. These and all things we pray according to Your will through Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.”

III. The mature Christian.

A. Now lets focus on the mature Christian. This is where the fruit of God’s long hard work is. You know more than anyone that you don’t dare take any credit for your growth because as His servant you have only done what is expected of you throughout your spiritual life. You poses a wealth of knowledge gained through a lifetime of spiritual living, studying, praying, worship, and obedience to the Lord; you, like all of us, love Him. You may think, “I’ve finally made it, I’m close to the goal and now I want to have a little rest; a well deserved break.” If you are this Christian then I say to you that you have already fallen into satins hands. Everyday of our lives we should be diligent to make our election sure just as the babes in Christ and the young Christians need to do. Our adversary wants us all to give in or become careless, especially those of us who took the longest and were the hardest for him to take away from God.

1) Let us look at a few danger signs for the mature Christian.

a) Becoming complacent and getting into a rut or routine, not really thinking about God’s word or thinking that you have heard it all before and the lesson is not meant for you.

b) Not seeing the need to study God’s word yourself or with others.

c) Growing negative or bitter.

d) Not exercising your God given talents and resting too early.

2) Turn your bibles to, Revelation 3:14-22 Read from the Bible.

3) The Lay-odd-i-see-an congregation was doing a lot of the things I mentioned as danger signs; becoming complacent, probably in a rut and not studying God’s word with others. They were growing negative and boastful. And most of all they weren’t using their God given talents. Can you feel from these scriptures the disdain the Lord has for those that are lax? This can happen to any Christian that doesn’t exercise his or her talents and takes a rest too early. Lets stay Hot and working, and not become lukewarm and spit

out as something spoiled. Don’t become lax and fall short of the goal. Remember the mature Christian also needs to continue diligently to walk in the light with confidence as He is in the light.

4) You are the ones that everyone in the congregation looks up to as examples, -- you teach by example, -- and every member loves you, which you nurture. At the end of my days I want to be in the light, as He is, not looking back as if missing the things of this world but looking forward to the Glory of God.

5) Read, Revelation 14:13 “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

6) Yes we will rest but it should be when He wills us to rest, not when we will to.

Lets pray once more, this time for the mature Christian. “Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ we pray, giving thanks for these mature Christians that we look up to for spiritual encouragement. Through them we know it is a good work to do your will till the end and know to count it as Your Glory. We pray for strength so we won’t grow complacent, selfish or negative in our attitude. Father, give us the strength to exercise our talents to the best of our ability and keep us in the light as He is in Your light. These as all things we pray in accordance to your will through Christ Jesus.” Amen.

Summery:

As babes in Christ, young Christians, and mature Christians we need to be diligent to walk in the light as He is in the light to be cleansed of all sin by the blood of His son -- and we can do this by examining our thoughts, words and actions -- at home, school, work and play. Because life is a lesson that is continually taught -- we need to be continually diligent. Just as I have stated in the at the beginning of this lesson, “All Christians must learn to walk with Christ from the start of their new life to the end of their days just as newborn babes learn to grow to maturity.”

Plan of Salvation:

God loves all people in His creation, the saved and unsaved alike. He is no respecter of men, and is patient for you to come to Him. God wants to receive you but there is a point when it is too late to make the decision.

James 4:13-14 “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even as a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away.”

What a terrible tragedy it would be to face Jesus and He turns to the Father and says, “This one is not mine, I never knew this one,” and God says, “Away, you worker of iniquity.” What a pitiful scene looking toward heaven knowing you had the chance, but didn’t act before the vapor that was your life vanished. Won’t you start your new life as a Christian by taking action now while there is still time?

You can if you:

Allow yourself to Hear the truth; Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Believe That Jesus is the Son of God and believe in Him; John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Repent or change the sinful ways of your life live a more spiritual life; Acts 17:30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,”

Confess openly your heart felt belief that Jesus is the Son of God; Romans 10:10 “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Are Baptized into Christ where His saving Grace is; Mark 16:16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

Continue steadfast, being diligent to make your election sure; 1Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the lord, knowing that your labor is not in vane in the Lord.”

If you are already in Christ and find yourself erring and outside of His saving grace, then do as the Lord wills and return to the One who loves you. Repent and confess your sin now and put yourself right before the Lord. Put yourself back in the light as He is in the light and walk with confidence before the Lord. Please come and do so right now while we stand and sing.