Sunday, March 10, 2019

The Commands of Christ – Part 8: Take my yoke, honor your parents, beware of leaven, and deny yourself

The Commands of Christ – Part 8:
Take my yoke, honor your parents, beware of leaven, and deny yourself
HOFC - Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon Audios.  For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org, or Truth Digest on facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on facebook at House of Faith Church

SERMON INTRODUCTION
Matthew 28:18-20
 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nationsbaptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


SERMON SERIES
Part 8 – Take my yoke, honor your parents, beware of leaven, and deny yourself
Part 9 – Despise not little ones, go to offenders, beware of covetousness and forgive offenders
Part 10 – Honor marriage, be a servant, be a house of prayer and ask in faith
Part 11 – Bring in the poor, render to Caesar, love the Lord and love your neighbor
Part 12 – Await my return, take communion, be born again and keep my commands
Part 13 – Watch and pray, feed my sheep, baptize my disciples
Part 14 – Receive God’s power and make disciples

TODAY’S SERMON
Take my yoke, honor your parents, beware of leaven, and deny yourself

SCRIPTURE READING
Jesus is giving this command, to Preach, Baptize and Teach, to everyone who is a follower of Christ Jesus.  Then to the disciples, and today to His disciples.

       I.            TAKE MY YOKE
a.      Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30


b.     We are incapable of doing it ourselves
                                                             i.      The 10 commands make it clear we cannot live up to God’s standards
                                                          ii.      It is impossible

                                                       iii.      The Word tells us what the penalty is for not living up to God’s standards, eternal damnation
1.      There are laws in this country you may not like or agree with
2.      That will not save you if you break them
3.      Penalties will be paid

                                                        iv.      Unlike the world legal system which is imperfect, God is the perfect and righteous Judge, paying to each what is due him on Judgement Day, without prejudice, for He is no respecter of persons.

                                                           v.      So what do we do about not being able to live up to God’s standards?
1.      This dilemma points us to Christ, the savior
2.      THAT is what He saves us from, the penalty of our sin


c.      So trust in Him
                                                             i.      Acknowledge He is God
                                                          ii.      Believe He died and rose again for payment of your debt

                                                       iii.      Confess your sins to Him

                                                        iv.      Repent and be forgiven

                                                           v.      Trust in Him and He will give you His Holy Spirit
1.      With that comes a foretaste of Glory, here on earth
2.      Holy Spirit intercessor to God
3.      Holy Spirit to guide so we walk in the Spirit not our flesh
4.      Full Armor of God to fight our Spiritual Battles
5.      Spiritual fruits to draw others to Him
6.      Spiritual Gifts to build, lift, edify, strengthen the Body of Christ, which IS the Church (People)
7.      Listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and He will lead


   II.            HONOR YOUR PARENTS
a.      “Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Matthew 15:3-11

b.     What is honoring parents
                                                             i.      Honoring your father and mother is being respectful in word and action and having an inward attitude of esteem for their position.

                                                          ii.      The Greek word for honor means “to revere, prize, and value.” Honor is giving respect not only for merit but also for rank.


                                                       iii.      Children of all ages should honor their parents, regardless of whether or not their parents “deserve” honor.


c.      Why it’s important
                                                             i.      First of all, because Christ commands us to
                                                          ii.      Honor is like Grace, given even if not deserved

                                                       iii.      You may not be able to honor a persons actions or words, but you must honor their position of authority

                                                        iv.      This teaches children at a very young age, honoring authority
1.      Parents are a picture of authority
2.      Authority of adults, teachers, police, government, all the way up to God
3.      We are to respect the position

                                                           v.      “But, my government is evil!” Doesn’t matter.
1.      Daniel worked in the government of Babylon

2.      Daniel served under Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius.
a.      Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and destroyed Jerusalem
b.     Belshazzar named after a Babylonian god
c.      Darius threw Daniel in the lion’s den
d.     Yet, Daniel worked for their governments and honored their positions, at the same time, did not turn against God!

                                                        vi.      We honor, respect the position regardless of anything else, because the Lord commanded us to!

III.            BEWARE OF LEAVEN
a.      “When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:5-12

b.     What leaven represents in scripture
                                                             i.      Leaven represents sin and false teachings


c.      The dangers of it
                                                             i.      Like leaven (yeast) a little bit in the bread grows
                                                          ii.      In sin and teaching, a little lie will grow much
                                                       iii.      Nearly all sins start off as small seemingly inconsequential little things, yet, if not dealt with, over time grow to an alarming size.
                                                        iv.      Therefore, beware false teachings and little sins!


IV.            DENY YOURSELF
a.      Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:23-26


b.     The battle between self and God
                                                             i.      The Lord tells us how to rid ourselves of leaven, by denying ourselves
                                                          ii.      Sin is the food of the fleshes desire, the flesh needs to be starved out
                                                       iii.      By denying our flesh, and feeding our spirit (through prayer, reading the word, fellowship, church, etc.) our spirit becomes stronger, flesh weaker, and the lure of sin will not have control over you because the Spirit will be stronger


c.      Denying self is following the Spirit
                                                             i.      Even Jesus was tempted
                                                          ii.      Temptation still comes, tried to get into your life, tries to plant itself
                                                       iii.      But resist the devil and he will flee
                                                        iv.      Feed the spirit, and you will overcome
                                                           v.      Deny the flesh its desires and it will become weak
                                                        vi.      Feed your spirit, and it will become strong

CONCLUSION
Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus promises His us, while we are obeying His commands to preach, baptize and teaching others to obey His commands, He will be with us to the end of this age!

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