06/23/08

Happy Monday Mornin!

      Identity theft has become a huge deal in America now days. It has become such a nuisance that we have companies that exist just to protect yours and my identity. For 29.95 a month you can protect your identity and give your social security number to anyone and not have to worry. But what I worry about is not my identity, what I worry about is what kind of society are we living in where we have to even worry about things such as this?

What identity theft does is someone takes your name and identity and use it posing as you. And then what happens is your good name that you have worked hard to get is ruined by someone you don’t even know. Oh you can go back and straighten it out afterward, but it is a nightmare.

And this even goes on smaller levels. Like one Tuesday night Jake had a friend at church and they wanted to eat early. The sign on the door says that we serve from 6 to 6:45 and the little boy that was with Jake noticed that sign. But Jake said, “Its ok my dad is the preacher”. Now I am not accusing Jake of identity theft, but in a way he has just used my name to further his cause without asking me if that was ok!

How many of us do this everyday with Jesus? How many of us ask Him to do things for us, and for other people? Or how many of us profess to be in Him and to be a Christian, but live like heathens? So what I want us to talk about this morning as we start our week how not to steal Jesus’ identity, but how we can live in His identity.

Acts 19:13-16 tells this story. . .

 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day an evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He have them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.  

What a story! The main point of all of this is people were misusing the name of Jesus and it backfired on them. I want to point a few things out about this passage.  

1.                           They had noble intentions. They were trying to help people, but sometimes good intentions are not enough. We can want to do good, and we can even go out and do much good, but if we are putting the name of Jesus on our good without really knowing Him it can go really bad!  

2.                           They wanted the benefits of following Jesus without the sacrifice. How do I know that? Look at what they say, they say in the name of Jesus. . . then they add, whom Paul preaches! In other words, we don’t know Him ourselves, but Paul knows Him and that is good enough! This demon really gets a kick out of this. He says he knows Jesus and knows about Paul but has no idea who they are! This really ought to open our eyes! I want to ask you a question: do the demons in hell know your name? I mean think about that. Do they know who you are? And if they do when they hear your name do they shudder at the thought of what you are doing for the Kingdom of God or do they laugh? The problem in church and life is that most people want to live out their faith through someone else. They want to live their Christianity through a preacher, or a parent, or an author without ever really tapping into the power of Jesus for themselves!  

3.                           Then look at the last thing that happens, they get their tails whooped and they are humiliated. Many of us live life every day wondering why things don’t seem to go right. We think, “I go to church, I listen to the sermon, I pray sometimes, but still I just can’t seem to get it together.” The reason is we are living our relationship to Christ through something other than Christ! How much of a relationship would I have with my children if I only lived it through Beverly ? That sounds silly doesn’t it! So why do we try to live our relationship with Jesus through other people and other things? He is real! He is here! He wants you to know Him!

 As you walk through this upcoming week I want you to constantly ask yourself, “Am I living through the power of Jesus in my life, or am I living it through stuff?” I wish I could answer that question for you, but only you and God know your heart. I can give you a test to take though. Answer these questions. . .  

1.                           Is church, prayer and Bible study duties that I fulfill when I feel like it, or are the necessities for me to live and when I don’t do them do I feel like something is missing?

2.                           When my life falls apart do I feel like I have to go to someone else to get them to pray for me, or do I feel I can pray for myself just as effectively?

3.                           And finally deep down inside of me, do I really believe that Jesus is in me, or do I just like the thoughts of being a Christian?

 These are really hard questions I know, but being a Christian is really hard business! I love you all and want you to grow deeper in Christ, which is why I sometimes give you hard things to look at!

 I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Pastor Jason Lyle 
The Open Range Church of Henry County 
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.