“Have You Achieved the Purpose?”
By Brother Kenneth Ray
June 5th,
2011
Click here to download printable sermon
notes in pdf format.
In March,
we
talked about ‘Trust.’ In
April, our
subject was, ‘Pursue After It.’ In
May,
it was ‘Commitment.’ This
month, our
topic is, ‘Have You Achieved the Purpose?’
‘Purpose’
is
defined as: Something
one intends to get
or do. OR The object for which something exists or is done.
‘Achieve’
means: to do,
succeed in doing. OR To
get or reach by exertion, attain, gain, as in, “To achieve one’s goals.”
Ecclesiastes
3:1
…a time to every purpose
under Heaven.
Are
you
achieving the purpose that God has for you?
Maybe your purpose this morning was to get coffee. Or maybe your purpose was
to get everyone
ready for church. Sometimes
that’s
difficult. I know
that on Sunday
mornings, the bathroom gets to be prime real estate.
Maybe your purpose was to get here on
time. Did you get
here on time? Then
you accomplished one of your purposes
this morning. We
need to start small and
work our way up.
This topic
is
the end of a four part series that began in March.
We are not going to talk about any of these
things next month. Look
forward to see
what God has in store. God
has more
purpose for you; God has more achievements in mind for you. He wants to use you; maybe
you’re the extra
ingredient to help someone see something that they’ve never seen before. You may think that you’re
not capable of
that, but in God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
John
19:30
…It
is finished…
The
question
that arises is, what’s finished? What
purpose was accomplished? What
we know
about what was taking place at this point was that Jesus was on the
cross, and
He was close to death. In
order to
understand what purpose was accomplished, we have to understand what
the goal
was. Let’s look at
what the Scriptures
say He was supposed to be here for:
John
3:16
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
What
was Jesus’
purpose?
Matthew
1:21 …for
He shall save His people
from their sins.
I
have a list
of
some of the other Scriptures that talk about Jesus’ purpose, but, what
I want
you to understand about His death on the cross is that at this point,
the whole
world is not saved. In
dying, He ripped
the veil (Mark 15:38),
so that now you and I have access to God.
That is what was accomplished; the door was opened,
but it’s still up to
us to run through it. In
God, not
everything is cut and dried. Many
people, myself included, have been guilty of saying that, “All you have
to do
is…” believe, or
confess, or get
baptized, or ask God for forgiveness…
And you do have to do all of those things, but, if
any one of those
things were all you had to do, He would have said so.
God sent Jesus to make a way, but that phase
of God’s plan didn’t stop right there at the crucifixion.
Acts
2:38
…baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…
Baptism
is not
the end of the line; it’s not the fulfillment of your purpose. It is the starting line;
until you do that,
you aren’t even in the game. He
will not
live in an unclean temple. You’ve
heard
the expression, “Forgive and forget?”
Well, remission is the ‘forget’ part.
If you’re offended at something that I have said,
let me just say that
if you are offended at something that was Biblical, then I can’t
apologize for
that. Now, if
you’re offended at
something that just came out of my big fat mouth that’s just me, well,
let me
know, and I will apologize for that, but I’m not going to apologize for
what
the Bible says. Your
start in Christ
begins with baptism. Did
I leave
something out? Probably, but I only have so much time, I can’t cover
every
little detail in one sermon.
More is
required
of us than just one act alone. What
we
need to do is to create a relationship where you are dependent upon
God, and
independent of the world. More
was
required of Christ as well. When
you buy
a new computer system, what comes with it? Support for that system. We were made in the image
of God, but we
still need support. Jesus
knew that you
would need support, so when they took Him down and placed Him in the
grave,
this could not become the final stop.
In
dying, He opened the door; in resurrecting, He provided support.
John
14:26
…the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father shall send in My
name…
The
Comforter,
that support, would not have happened if He had stopped at the grave. And what support that is: He shall bring all things
to your
remembrance? Sign
me up for that.
Proverbs
24:16
For a just man falleth
seven times, and riseth up again…
That’s
why God
knew that you needed support. Notice
that it doesn’t say that a kind of just man will fall, or that a sort
of just
man will fall; it says that a just man falleth seven times, and
riseth
up again. So it’s
not a question of
whether you will fall, you will; it’s a question of who will you listen
to when
you fall: The Holy
Ghost, or the father
of lies? They’re
both going to be
whispering to you.
John
16:7
…for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you…
As
a Christian,
you will face trials, but some days are treasures.
You will have valleys and mountaintops. Because of the Holy Ghost,
we have help to
handle them all. We
have a bad tendency
to talk about the temptations that we face, but we should also talk
about the
good days that God gives us.
Particularly with those that don’t know Him. He does want to see them
saved. He does want
to be the light of their
world. He does want
to be the top of
everything in your life.
I want to
share
a secret. The Holy
Ghost is here, and
Jesus went away to prepare a place for us.
Does there seem to be always one more thing to do? Jesus knows how you feel;
He died for us, He
sent the Holy Ghost for us, He went to prepare a place for us… but He
did it happily.
Here is the
secret: We are
meant to focus on that
place that He is preparing, and on getting there, not simply this life
and
living it. It’s
more than just coming to
church or serving on a committee.
Matthew
25:34
…inherit the
Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world.
Our purposes—both Godly and
personal—require us to keep our hands to the plow, not looking back or
side to
side, but looking beyond this world, this place, and this time, to the
fulfillment of what we are meant to be and what is meant for us.
Sermon
notes by Pete Shepherd
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