Illuminate

When I started to do some research on the word, I found some very interesting things that follow that directly relate to how as Christians we are supposed to be

Middle English, from Latin illuminatus – meaning to light up.

1. The Noun

il-lu-mi-nate: one having or claiming unusual enlightenment

Eph 4:17-24
With the Lord’s authority let me say this: Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They don’t care anymore about right and wrong, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways. Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.
But that isn’t what you were taught when you learned about Christ. Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness--righteous, holy, and true.

As Christians we are not of the world any longer! The bible tells us that we have undergone a Spiritual Renewal!

John 1:4-6
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

We have been saved through the blood of Jesus, and to an unknowing world, that’s unusual! Not only that, we have the privilege of being able to look back at our sin and realize that we have been saved, we have been forgiven!

But that is also a call. We talked about talents – What are some Examples?

Eph 4:11-13
He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.

We have the enlightenment, we have our gifts….

2. The Adjective

il-lu-mi-nate: brightened with light; intellectually or spiritually enlightened

When I light a candle, you know it’s lit why? – Because of the light!
In the same way, when you are truly following after God, using your talents, gifts and abilities for him you glow! You can’t help it, and people will notice it!

Ephesians 5:1-2
Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.

In case you forgot what the opposite of God’s example is:

Ephesians 5:3-5
Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes--these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world.

You want to illuminate for God? Listen up!

Still some might say, well I haven’t been on fire for God in long time.

Romans 11:29
For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.

Somebody say AMEN! God’s gift and calling is always there!


3. The Verb

il-lu-mi-nate: to supply or brighten with light; to enlighten spiritually or intellectually

Matthew 5:15-16
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

You’ve got your light, your gifts and talents, and your call – Now it’s time to take action! Go! Illuminate!

Mark 16:15-16
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

That verse doesn’t say, One of you go, it says all of you go!

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is what’s called “The Great Commission”
God has called us to go and be a light in a dark place!


Stop Waiting for some one else to save your friends!

You are missionaries! You are to illuminate!


Matthew 5:16
let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

I’m challenging you today to make this verse your Lifestyle. It is our very purpose, and we need to never forget that!

The Value of the Nails (Youth Communion Lesson)

 “When you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

Colossians 2:13-14

The value of something depends on whose hand it is in.

For example. A basketball in my hand is worth about $19. But, if you put this same basketball in the hands of Lebron James, it’s suddenly worth $19 million dollars a year. Put a baseball bat in my hand and it’s worth maybe $13, depending on where you shop for bats! But if you put a bat in the hands of Vladimer Guerrero it becomes worth $13 million dollars a year. A golf ball and a club in my hands is worth about $100 bucks. In the hands of Tiger Woods it is worth $100 million dollars.

Do you see what I mean? The value of something depends on whose hands it’s in. Here’s one more example. Give me a nail and with I might be able to tack down a roofing shingle such that it stays there a few years. But as Calvary’s cross proves, in the hands of Jesus a nail has infinitely greater value.

Tonight when you entered the sanctuary you were given a nail, a little piece of steel that is at least similar to the nails that Jesus in His hands when He hung on that cross. And, I want you to hold that nail in your hand and consider the power that Jesus displayed with those nails. As we partake of this memorial meal I want us to remember all the things Jesus has done with those nails, things that make those ancient fingers of steel infinitely valuable. To put it another way, as we consider the power of these nails, I want us to think about why it is that, as the hymn writer put it, Christians cherish the old rugged cross.

Body

Here’s the first reason.

(1) With the nails in His hands Jesus washed away the SINS of all mankind.

As 1st John 2:2 says, Jesus hung on the cross as,“...the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” I don’t want to be accused of going from preaching to meddling, but the uncomfortable fact is that all of us are sinners who desperately need saving. Romans 3:23 and 6:23 say, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God... and the wages of sin is death.” Isaiah 53 says,“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Friends, each of us have used our hands to sin, and we do this every day

This is one reason these nails are so precious, because Jesus used the nails in His hands to wash all our sins away. This is why in Romans 1:16 Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”  This is what he’s talking about in 1 Corinthians 1:18 when he says,“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” With those common Roman nails, similar to the one in your hand, Jesus paid our sin debt. He died in our place, freeing us from the fear of death. Wouldn’t you agree that those nails held in the hands of Jesus Christ are valuable?

 

(2) A second reason those nails are precious to us is because with them Jesus showed how much God LOVES us.

Another reason these nails have value, another reason Christians cling to the old rugged cross like a life-preserver is because we all have this inborn need to know that in spite of our sin we are still loved.

I remember reading a few years ago about how the diary of the late Madelyn Murray O’Hare (founder of American Atheists). I remember reading how her diary was auctioned off by the IRS in an attempt to raise money for back taxes and money she owed her creditors. It was discovered that on several different occasions this devoted atheist had written in her diary, “Somebody, somewhere, please love me.” Throughout her life, as she was seeking to be loved, she fought against the God she believed didn’t exist. So, ironically, tragically, she ran from the God Who loved her in the way she desperately wanted to be loved, needed to be loved. And we are all like Ms. O’Hare, all of us are sinners with an inborn hunger to be forgiven and loved by our Heavenly Father.

I love the way the Contemporary English Version translates Romans 5:8. It says, “God showed how much He loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.” Now as you hold that nail in your hands and remember this, does it’s value increase a bit? Does it become more precious to you?

(3) One final reason those nails are so valuable is because with them in His hands, Jesus freed us from the power of sin and enabled us to live abundant lives.

As 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed." Before Jesus held those nails in His hands on the cross of Calvary, mankind was in bondage to sin, a truly terrifying way to live. Remember? Before we became Christians every moment of every day we were powerless when it came to withstanding the temptations that come with living in a fallen world. But with those nails in His hands Jesus changed all that. As Paul writes in Romans 6 Paul, “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died had been freed from sin. Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God’s grace.” (Romans 6:6-7, 14)

As this text and dozens of others like it say, thanks to the nails in Jesus’ hands, we have access to God’s power, power that enables us to say no to sin. Through His death Jesus freed us from sin’s tyranny, and made it possible for us to pursue holiness and righteousness.

Jerry Bridges writes, “We can now stand up to sin and say no to it. Before we had no choice, now we have one. When we sin as Christians, we do not sin as slaves, but as individuals with the freedom of choice. We sin because we choose to sin.” Bridges is right. Because of the nails, because of the cross, we can at last choose to be all that God intends us to be and in that decision experience “...life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)

In his book, Grace Awakening, Charles Swindoll puts it this way, “Each moment of every day we choose whom we wish to follow. If it’s the Savior, the benefits are many. If it is sin, the consequences are destructive and miserable. Before Christ, we had no choice. Sin was our one and only route. All of life was marked by unrighteousness. But once we came to the Cross and gave the Lord Jesus the right to rule our lives, we were granted a choice we never had before. Grace freed us from the requirement to serve sin, allowing us the opportunity to follow Christ’s directives voluntarily.”

Gipsy Smith, an outstanding evangelist of another age, once put it this way. He said, “I am not afraid of the cross. I know that men used to come there to die, but since Jesus died they come there to live.” As we remember all Jesus did with these nails in His hands, do you understand now why they are so precious? In His hands Jesus used them to make it possible for the sins of all mankind to be forgiven. With these nails, He showed us the extent of God’s love. With these nails in His hands Jesus freed us from sin’s power and made it possible for us to live righteous, abundant lives. Instead of putting that nail in your pocket when you leave, maybe you should put it in your wallet or purse, or safe-deposit box, because the nails in Jesus’ hands are priceless in value!

Remember these things as we share communion thisevening, this meal that Jesus gave us to help us celebrate these truths. And as we come to the Lord’s Table, let me invite all Christians present to partake with us.

Because, after all, even if you are not a member of this church; If you are a Christian, if you are His, this is Yours.

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 says, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,‘This is My body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”