Part 2 – The Perfection With God
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Intro: In our
text, Jesus is talking with the rich young ruler. After listening to his list of good deeds and
good qualities, Jesus was quick to point out that he was imperfect. In Mark 10,
Jesus said, “One thing thou lackest…”
Our theme this year is “With
God”. I want to point out today that “With God” comes a perfection – a completion
– a wholeness that you can’t find anywhere else. It doesn’t matter how much you
have going for you. If you are without God – you are lacking. You are in
desperate need of HIM to fill that emptiness, that void in your life. It is God’s will to see you PERFECTED –
COMPLETE in Him. You can’t do it WITHOUT
HIM. Only when you discover the perfection of God can you be perfect WITH GOD.
NOTE:
·
Ephesians
4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ: 13
Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
·
Hebrews
10:14 For by one offering he hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
·
Colossians
4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a
servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers,
that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Turn to Hebrews
6:9
A. The Desire for the Believer
– vs. 11 And we desire that every one of
you…
B. The
Diligence of the Believer – vs. 11b …shew
the same diligence… vs. 12 That ye be not slothful…
C. The
Dividends of the Believer – vs. 12 –
inherit the promises – IT PAYS TO GO WITH GOD!
I. With God we
have Perfect Communication
Look in our text: verse 18 - …it was impossible
for God to lie…
·
Psalms
19:7 The law of the LORD is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making
wise the simple.
·
James
1:25 But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
In verse 13, God made a promise to Abraham. Multiple times
we see references to the words “oath” and “swear”.
Verse 17 emphasizes God’s desire to build trust with us
THROUGH THE PERFECTION OF HIS WORD.
IMMUTABILITY - not transposed, not to be transferred, fixed,
unalterable
It is impossible for God to lie.
·
POINT
– if God couldn’t lie to Abraham, he can’t lie to us.
With God – we have perfect communication.
·
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God,
that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
·
John
17:17 Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth.
II. With God we
have Perfect Confirmation
Notice verse 16 – an oath for confirmation is to them AND
END OF ALL STRIFE.
Mankind is plagued with doubts and fears.
Apart from God, we have no hope and no peace.
God will not provide peace – cannot provide peace – to the
person who deliberately shuts Him off from their life.
Life apart from God is a miserable existence.
WITH GOD – we have
peace.
Is it possible for us to experience perfect peace? Perfect
confirmation?
·
Isaiah
26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
·
Psalms
37:37 Mark the perfect man, and
behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Notice verse 16 – and an oath for confirmation is to them
and end of all strife.
Man is looking for assurances – answers to unresolved
conflicts and doubts.
They are seeking a GUARANTEE.
NOTICE verse 11 – the FULL ASSURANCE OF HOPE.
A life WITHOUT GOD will be a life WITHOUT CONFIRMATION.
III. With God we
have Perfect Consolation
Not only With God can we have peace, but With God we can
have hope.
Peace is trusting in
God in the PRESENT. Hope is trusting in God in the FUTURE.
DEFINITION OF
CONSOLATION: consolation, comfort,
solace; that which affords comfort or refreshment
·
John
17:12 While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none
of them is lost…
Notice verse 19 – “Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure (Gr. asphales as-fal-ace’) and
stedfast…
An anchor of the soul. What a phrase!
No drifting.
No being pushed and pulled all over the place.
We have no fear of being lost or being tossed to and fro.
We have a STRONG CONSOLATION that we can flee to for refuge.
We can only have that STRONG CONSOLATION when we are WITH
GOD!
