Have you been blessed? Did it stop with you or did you pass it along? When Jesus was here, the most blessed person ever, he did nothing but bless others. When God gives us a blessing, it's not for us to indulge in, but is rather an opportunity for us to show Him that we "get it". He trusts us to pass the blessing along in an earthly manner!

Today we'll look at 2 Thessalonians 3:3 as our scripture, for which there is a pretty interesting story that goes with it and why I made it my license plate recently. Also, Bible-snobs and people who tell you that scripture has a "specific" meaning are wrong. The Bible and all holy scripture contained within are not bound by any limitations like things we are used to. The divine authority within the scripture is dynamic and can work with each one of us a different way. Hope you enjoy.

“The Mark of Wisdom”
Scripture: Matthew 7:1
Audience: Sermon on the Mount
Who is Talking: Jesus

Main Point: Judge not, lest ye be judged

Opening

• Making decisions in general
  • A lot of people struggle with it
  • Some are quicker, some are more thorough
• A common decision that we make, though it’s rarely unconscious, is to judge others
• We have been commanded not to do so
  • Compari-SIN
  • Today we’ll go in to detail as to WHY

Scripture 1 (Matthew 7:1-5)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 

Main Points

• Why does God not want us to Judge?
  • We don’t know what we’re doing.
• When does God pass Judgment?
• How does God pass Judgment? Pure, just, righteous, unbias, etc
  • How do we? Flawed, bias, snap, jaded, influenced
• He says it in verse 3
  • Jesus told us that we’re not clean enough to pass judgment
  • We need to work on ourselves first, then we’ll “see clearly” to help others

CONCLUSION:

• Many people don’t think they are good enough for God
• They have come to this conclusion because they have judged themselves
• Remember how God judges and WHEN. There is still time for everyone no matter what your past looks like or what your present looks like, your future can be bright if youll just let Him in!
• Lets Pray
• Father, I pray for every one who hears this message, that you will provide them with the wisdom to not judge themselves or anyone else, but to focus on what you’ve taught us to do and the way you’ve taught us to do it. I pray for clarity Lord for your children to SEE the way you’ve seen and to be in this world, but not of this world as you’ve shown. I pray for these things in the name of Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, AMEN.

“How to defeat evil”

Scripture: Matthew 5:38-40

Audience: Sermon on the Mount

Who is Talking: Jesus

Main Point: Resist NOT evil

Opening

• We have all encountered evil…
  • I’m dealing with it at work right now.
  • I’ve seen the Devil face-to-face
• I think the Sermon on the Mount is the most important Sermon of all time
• Let’s look at what Jesus said to the masses about dealing with Evil

Scripture 1 (Matthew 5:38-40)

• 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,h]">[h] let him have your cloak as well.

Main Points

• He goes on to tell us in verse 44 to “love your enemies”

• Why is he telling us this?
• How could this possibly work?
• We know this teaching to be one he preached and practiced, so it’s important.

• But how do I deal with that evil person at work?
• How do I deal with an evil ex-wife/husband?
• How do I deal with a teenager that seems is possessed by the devil himself?
• You must redefine what you believe to be righteousness
• There is Earthly righteousness
• There is Heavenly righteousness

CONCLUSION:

• You might be saying…but they MURDERED Jesus when he was like you’re telling us to be…

This is true…but he STILL LIVES because he rose from the Dead, he did his duty, he showed us what God wants to see, he died for us, showed us mercy every single one, forgave us all, paid the debt and all he asked was for us to follow him and to love one another!

• What did he mean by LOVE one another?
  • He meant we should SERVE one another.
• LETS PRAY
• Father, I pray for every one who hears this message, that you will give them the strength and stamina to fulfill your wishes for their lives. That we would learn your most prominent and unforgotten message of peace amongst evil and forgiveness amongst unjust persecution. We pray for this in Jesus name…AMEN

“Has God let you down?”

Scripture: Matthew 5:8 & 15:10-20 & James 5:7-10

Audience: Disciples and ALL

Who is Talking: Jesus & James

Main Point: Stick with your Faith without expectations

Opening

• Do you feel that most Preachers/Churches “over-sell” your future greatness that God has in store for you?
• Is this really how it works?
• Your best days are NOT in the future. They are HERE AND NOW if you’re brave enough to access them through Jesus
• Do you feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, or at least you’re a good enough person that God should smile on you more often than he has been?

Scripture 1 (Matthew 15:10-20)

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides.[c] And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[d] 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

• HE is telling us here that what is in our hearts is what matters. Its our true, unfiltered, non-branded heart-felt emotion, connection and wishes that make up our connection with God and its potency.
• Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Main Points

• It is ALL about what is in your heart…
• Doing things for the sake of morality won’t cut it
• Doing things for fear of punishment also won’t cut it
• So HOW do we change our Heart? FAITH is the only way.
• The only thing holding you back is a lack of Faith. Faith fixes everything.
• If you have Faith, true Faith, you won’t worry about anything. It’s in God’s hands.
• If you have Faith, you won’t judge anyone or try to get over on anyone, you will see people as God intended, as your family your brothers and sisters

CONCLUSION:

• Something you can hold on to in tough times…
  • <

The story of how I knew when He saved me. Yes, I get emotional. Anyone who has encountered the divine will always get emotional when they re-live it. There is this overwhelming feeling of undeserving that takes you over. You feel so unworthly of His love, but at the same time so grateful for it.

“How do we know the Gospels are Reliable???”

Main Point: The Gospels (including Acts) are reliable, eye-witness accounts of actual events

 Opening

• Are the Gospel accounts reliable? Are they true?
  • WHEN were they written?
  • WHO wrote them?
  • Did the information change over time?
• We have to use what we know for sure about history to determine the validity of the Gospels

 Main Points

• When were the Gospels written?
  • The biggest historical event = Siege of Jerusalem 66-69AD, Temple Destruction 70AD
    • Neither event is described in the Gospels or in any of Paul’s letters
    • Paul was executed in Rome in 64AD, Peter in 65AD
    • Luke wrote Acts after his Gospel - Acts didn’t mention Paul, Peter or James death 62AD
      • So Acts was written before 62AD, and Luke’s Gospel was written PRIOR to that
    • Paul quoted Luke’s Gospel in 1Tim 5:17/18 in around 63AD, as if it were common knowledge at that time (Luke 10:7)
    • Paul quoted Luke’s Gospel again in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (Luke 22:19-20)
      • So Luke’s Gospel had been around for a while at this time
    • Luke quotes Mark and Matthew repeatedly in his Gospel (hundreds of times) which leads us to believe those Gospels pre-date Luke’s Gospel by a handful of years at least
    • Matthew/Mark 45-50AD, Luke’s Gospel 50-53AD, Paul’s letters 53-57AD, Acts 57-60AD, John 85-95AD
    • This early dating is crucial because it tells us that time for Legend to build was not enough and also passing on a tale/story like this during these times would have been impossible given the skeptical nature of people in this area during this time in history
  • WHO wrote the Gospels?
    • The Gospels were written anonymously, unlike Paul’s letters, which was normal/expected
    • If the Authors were going to be “made up”, then why these guys?
    • Did anyone else ever claim to be an Author of these writings?
    • Why no author for Hebrews?
    • Why say women saw the empty tomb? Why tell everyone what Jesus said on the Cross?
  • Did the information change over time? (chain of custody)
    • Significant number of copies helps us with this
    • People did try to corrupt the scriptures but the fakes were easily caught throughout history
    • Fortunately, the Gospel writers students left us more documents and evidence about how the information was passed down.
    • John taught Ignatius and Polycarp – they taught Irenaeus who taught Hippolytus, all of whom left us corroborating evidence of the Gospel accounts and chain of custody
    • Paul taught Linus and Clement of Rome – who taught Evaristus & Pius – Pius and Justin Martyr, Justin was the first Apologist who left us great works detailing the validity of the Gospels.
    • Peter taught Mark, the first Gospel writer, who taught: Anianus, Avilius, Kedron, Primus and Justus. Justus taught Pantaenus who taught Clement of Alexandria who taught Origen who’s work was adopted by Pamphilus of Caesarea who taught Eusebius who lived to 339AD!
    • This alone leads us right up to the Council of Laodacia

 CONCLUSION:

• The Gospels, Acts & Paul’s letters were written early and are interwoven
• There is literally no reason to list the Gospel writers as such if they were not
• The teaching was passed down as carefully as it could have been, chain of custody is clean
• LETS PRAY----->>>>>>>
• Father, I pray for

“God is INSIDE of us ALL and I can prove it”

Scripture: Luke 17:20-21

Quoting: Jesus

Audience: Pharisees outside of Jerusalem

Main Point: The Creator Himself is within us all http://www.bible-researcher.com/luke17.21.html

Opening

• God is ALIVE and dwells within us all
• He told us as much and I can prove it to you on both a physical and spiritual level
• This is one of the first passages/quotes from Christ that really caught my attention

 SCRIPTURE

• What’s going on here? Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem at this point, but he’s being followed by different Pharisees and they keep trying to catch him slipping
• Read Luke 17:20-21 ESV
  • 20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
• Read Luke 17:20-21 NKJV
  • 20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Things to Consider

• WHY is there such a difference in the translations?
  • Translators didn’t like the reference to God being within the Pharisees
• Which one is more accurate?
  • NKJV is direct translation
  • Luke used the word for “amongst” or “in the midst” 6 other times in this gospel
• WHY does this make more sense?
  • He just said the KOG will not be observable, so it would be absurd that the next sentence he says that it is amongst you or in your midst
• What does it mean?
  • Physically, this is true.
  • Spiritually, this is the possibility.

 APPLICATION to Audience

• EVERYTHING happens from within you
  • the Holy Spirit is the KEY that unlocks the divine within you
  • When you accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit will decend upon you
  • When you feel overwhelming love, it happens within you
• Have you ever been inspired? Literally means in-spirit
  • When you are inspired, really inspired, is there any better feeling? Don’t you feel like you can conquer the world?
  • That is God being unleashed from within you.
• Have your greatest moments/feelings come from outside of you or within you?

 CONCLUSION:

• The Kingdom of God is within each and every one of us.
• The only question is, will you suppress it or will you unleash it?
• My prayer is that you will unleash it! LETS PRAY----->>>>>>>
• Father, I pray for every one of your children who hears this message, that you will fill their spirit to the brim. I ask you Lord to give us the courage and strength to unleash that inspirat