Hebrews 1:3

³ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

The author of Hebrews informs the readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of God.

The Apostle John speaks of Jesus in his writings….

John 1:1 (KJV)
¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:3 (KJV)
³  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:14 (KJV)
¹⁴  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus this way…

Colossians 1:16 (KJV)
¹⁶  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

All three describe Jesus as being at the beginning of all that was created.

Therefore, he makes all that was made, keep all together what was made, while ruling all that was made, he could save mankind from sin, sickness, and eternal death.

Well, this Jesus was the brightness of God’s glory.

Where does the brightness of the moon come from?

Unlike a lamp or our sun, the moon doesn’t produce its own light. Moonlight is actually sunlight that shines on the moon and bounces off. The light reflects off old volcanoes, craters, and lava flows on the moon’s surface.

Where does the brightness of the son come from?

The Sun produces light by a nuclear reaction called fusion. As atoms of hydrogen combine to form helium, they produce vast amounts of heat and light.

Fusion occurs in the sun’s innermost core, when two atoms merge, releasing energy and light in the process. Photons of light are first created in the sun’s center. Over tens of thousands of years, the photons travel a “drunken walk,” zigzagging their way from atom to atom until they reach the surface.

The moon does have a true brightness for it is a reflection of light from the sun.

The produce reflection by it very creation.

What does the Bible mean by the glory of God?

Glory (from the Latin gloria, “fame, renown”) is used to describe the manifestation of God’s presence as perceived by humans according to the Abrahamic religions.

The Glory of God The glory of God can be described in two senses: (1) as  attribute,

 (2) referring to particular historical manifestations of his presence.

The glory of God is proclaimed by the Creation.

It is revealed by his mighty acts of salvation and deliverance.

His glory is the theme of the praise.

The glory of God was with Israel in the pillar of fire or the cloud that followed them.

John 17:4

I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to do.

God’s glory is displayed in Christ. If God’s glory is the sense of his awesome presence, the more we understand of Jesus’ mission and work on earth, the more we will be aware of God’s glory. For in Christ, God was physically present in this world.

God’s glory is reflected in the lives of his people. What did Jesus mean when he said in verse 10, “They are my glory”? God’s glory is the revelation of his character and presence. The lives of Jesus’ disciples reveal his character, and he is present to the world through them.

Does your life reveal Jesus’ character and presence?

Matthew 5:16 (KJV)
¹⁶  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

1 Peter 2:12 (KJV)
¹²  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Matthew 1:23 (KJV)
²³  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

We must not attempt to produce glory but allow the glory of God to come forth just as Jesus did.

Too God be the glory and the honor, and the praise!

Titus 2:1–8

¹ But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

² That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

³ The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

⁵ To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

⁶ Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

⁷ In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

⁸ Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Sound doctrine is not always what a person wants to hear.

When a church or person is growing in the faith they need sound doctrine.

They will have new people, new problems, new pains, and diversity of ages.

There will be people from everywhere trying to educate you in the faith and sound doctrine can make a difference if you will be able to hold out or give out!

Be careful with your advice to young believers!

Remember they don’t have a faith background.

They come from the street with a totally different understanding of what is right.

Having people of all ages in a church can strengthen it, but it also can bring problems.

Paul gave Titus counsel on how to help various groups of people.

The older people should teach the younger by words and by example.

This is how values are passed on from generation to generation.

Titus was to teach all the new converts to become “sound in the faith” (1:13).

Titus 2:1 (12TT): But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. 

Whereas the false teachers were deceivers (1:10), Titus was to teach sound doctrine, the “trustworthy message” of the gospel (1:9).

Believers must be grounded in the truths of the Bible, then they won’t be swayed by the powerful rhetoric of false teachers and heresy, the possible devastation of tragic circumstances, or the pull of emotions.

Knowledge and acceptance of “sound doctrine” should lead to righteous living.

Behavior should match belief; thus, in the following verses, Paul gave Titus examples of the right behavior expected of several types of people in the churches.

SOUND DOCTRINE

Sound doctrine rings true. It combines correct knowledge and understanding with consistent practice.

How do we know if our Christian doctrine is sound?

1. It is found in the Bible.
2. It keeps Jesus Christ central.
3. It results in consistently good behavior and actions.
4. It promotes spiritual health in ourselves and others.

Those responsible for preaching and teaching must challenge people to understand sound doctrine.

We may become so caught up in relating to felt needs that we ignore their connection to sound biblical knowledge.

Reaching out to people where they are should not result in scriptural ignorance. Most important is what does the bible say about this situation.

1.    Living by faith and not lead by emotions. 

2.    Don’t believe everything you feel.

3.    Feelings are not facts.

Just because I feel useless, hopeless, unlovable, and worthless, doesn’t mean you am. This might seem obvious to some but emotions can be convincing and the evidence seems to abound to confirm said subjective experience.

Recognize feelings for what they are: feelings; not facts, not the Truth, not edicts.

What Does the Bible say about emotions? 

Living by faith and not allowing our emotions to lead us can be complicated to tackle. 

Our feelings can change at the drop of a hat, the tune of a song, or the embrace of a friend.

Can we trust our own feelings, allowing them to guide our decisions if they are so quickly changing?

Are they something to rule our lives? Are they something that should guide our decisions?

Scripture On Managing Our Emotions

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. -Proverbs 16:32

Why did God give us our emotions?

In Proverbs 28:26 it tells us if we trust in our hearts, we are fools. 

Proverbs 12:15 says the way of the fool is right in his own eyes.

God gave us our feelings and emotions for a reason.

Living by faith doesn’t mean we ignore them.

They are not evil by themselves, but what we allow our thoughts to dwell on may be negative and causing an unhealthy overload of negative emotions. 

Our Emotions are a Gauge, Not a Guide

It will be in our best interest if we learn how to handle our feelings by responding well. Let’s try to remember 

2 Corinthians 10:5 when dealing with my feelings and thought process. 

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV 

Sometimes I can’t help the way I feel, but I can help how I react to those feelings.

I can submit them to God and His will for my life.

Choosing to respond in a way that is based on God’s truth for my life and the situation.

By doing that I’m honoring God. Intentionally putting faith over my feelings.

Ephesians 4:26 (AV)

²⁶ Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Just like handling our business we often have to handle our faith with Sound Doctrine!!!

Living By Faith Not Feelings

Our thoughts are what trigger our feelings.

Our feelings are very real but can be based or triggered by a negative, overthinking, thought process instead of the truth.  

When we find ourselves going through a hard time and the walls are closing in with no light at the end of the tunnel. Anxiety. Fear. Grief. Anger.

All those emotions can be overwhelming.

Crashing in on us.

Those are the moments when God reminds us to not be afraid, focus on His truth, and rest in Him. Sound Doctrine!

Living By Faith

Jesus, God in the flesh, experienced a wide range of emotions during his 33 years on this earth. 

Scripture tells us what He felt and experienced, specifically, during his three-year public ministry.

And while we might tend to think that being unemotional means being more spiritual or Spirit-controlled, Scripture clearly shows that Jesus exercised a healthy amount of emotion and self-control. –Crosswalk

We know that He is “near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). We can cast all our anxieties on Him because we are assured that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Isaiah 41:10

Standing in the Truth of God as broken and emotional people, remembering that God made our emotions and gives us a time to mourn and laugh. Recognizing them and submitting them one by one to Christ is the moving forward in a way that honors God.

Living by Faith and truly believing what the Bible says is what will transform our thought process and therefore help to keep our feelings in check and standing firm in our faith.

Revelation 3:6

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 3:6 (NLT)

⁶ “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Ephesians 2

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

² Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

³ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

YOU KNOW YOUR CHURCH IS DYING A SLOW DEATH WHEN?

1. No Open vision for the church
2. People stop forgiving one another and start holding grudges
3. People stop attending
4. Living in the past glory of the church
5. The offering is decreasing
6. The excitement is going
7. The lack of commitment and accountability
8. The young people stop coming
9. Arguing and division is everywhere
10. All actions are inward with little or no outward mission
11. No community focus or ministry/ No Evangelism
12. Not seeking to reach the lost or those who have strayed away
13. Not warm toward visitors
14. A feeling of we only want people like us

Sardis was the capital of the Lydian Empire and was still an important city during the Roman Empire.

Sar’dis had become famous for their abilities in arts and crafts.

They made lavish use of the local brightly colored and semi-precious stones such as fire opal and banded agate.

The Sar’dians also had a process in which they used blue stone that they mined nearby.

Their jewelry was renown throughout the empire.

Some historians claim that Sardis was the first city to mint coinage using the precious metals; gold and silver.

The nearby mountains were dotted with gold mines thus making the city the monetary capital of the region.

The patron deity, named Cybele, was believed to possess the power and ability of restoring the dead back to life.

The Romans built a temple for the goddess Artemis and a large bath-gymnasium complex.  

NOW WE NEED TO HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING TO THE CHURCH.

You can look alive on the outside but dead on the inside.

Matthew 23:27 (NLT2)
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.

HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING….

Revelation 3:1–3 (NLT)

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead.

² Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.

³ Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

Revelation 3:5 (NLT)

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

Luke 10:20 (KJV)
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

More important than the disciples’ authority over spirits was their position as God’s children.

Their names were known to God and were written in God’s book.

This was the disciples’ greatest blessing.

The church must wake up and stop worrying about titles, positions, buildings, and know that our bodies are temples for the Holy Ghost and the greatest joy is having our names written in the Lambs book of life.

Paul asked the believers have you received the Holy Ghost.

If the church is filled with people with the Holy Ghost the thing in our church is that our names are not blotted out of the Book of Life.

2006 PAUL MOTON WROTE “NOT ME LORD!”

It was in Late August of 2005 Hurricane Katrine took both of Paul’s churches, his automobiles, his income, separated him from that which he loved singing and preaching.

It brought memories of the lost of his grandbaby, his nervous breakdown, and his cancer.

Song: Before I ever say one word
Lord, concentrate me
Before I ever sing a song
Lord, clean my heart
You have my permission to do
Whatever You need to do
Because I don’t want them to hear me
I want them to hear You, ohhhh
Not me, Lord, You