"No More Masks" pt 1 - September 23, 2010

"No More Masks" pt 1 - September 23, 2010

Sermon notes from Pastor Paula White

“No more masks” #1

TEXT: [2 COR 4:1,2]  [Message]…  “Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands & walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times.  V2) We refuse to wear masks & play games.  We don’t maneuver & manipulate behind the scenes.  And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves.  Rather, we keep everything we do & say out in the open – the whole truth on display – so that those who want to can see & judge for themselves in the presence of God.

“WE REFUSE TO WEAR MASKS & PLAY GAMES”

-It’s TIME to GET REAL… To live an authentic life…

-A Mask is:  Something that you hide behind…  Something that disguises the “Real” you

-[Merriam Websters] dfines it as: = A Cover used for disguise; Something that serves to conceal..

-In our text, the Apostle is not talking about being a person of  “PERFECTION” or “having it all together” … No one is “perfect”

-…But he is talking about being a person of “Character”…

-         [i.e] = The makeup of an individual & the way that person interacts with God & the world..

-Character is the distinctive qualities of a person…  their attributes, traits, capacity & abilities

-..It is HOW a person treats God, himself and others & whether or not they do what they say …

-To BE human means  = To be vulnerable, to experience pain, to need other people, to have “sinfulness” & other “not so good parts”….

-[i.e] = “TO BE REAL”…

-Although you LOVE God… ALL of US have “weaknesses”, fluctuations in our flesh, frailties and many other “ASPECTS” of what it means to be HUMAN…

-It is time to CONFRONT the areas that we have been “faking it”,[i.e] =  wearing a MASK…and learn to open up and deal with our struggles and imperfections.

-The Pharisees of Jesus’ time were notorious for taking pride in their own righteousness.

-In fact, Jesus told a parable that poked fun of their attitude:

-[Luke 18:10-14]  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee & the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself:  “God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get”.  But the tax collector stood at a distance.  He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.”

-The tax collector did not see himself as righteous.  Instead, he sought grace humbly, for he knew that only through God’s grace could he be loved and accepted.

-The Pharisee, however, saw himself as “GOOD” & others as “BAD”…

-He believed – wrongly – that all “badness” was outside of himself

-This dynamic is called a “NOT ME” experience..

- It is where People have a character structure that does not allow them to see certain realities as part of themselves.

-…they will project things onto others and cannot take ownership of their own flaws…therefore I must “hide” behind a mask….

-In [Mark 7:1-14]..  Jesus calls them a HYPOCRITE

-HYPOCRITE = A person who puts on a false appearance, [GR] = A Stage player, an actor under an assumed character…  TO PRETEND

-Here is the DANGER:

-As long as I am living a life of false pretense I will resist any form of character growth or maturation…

-I won’t admit that I have any problems, or think I can solve problems by myself

-I will not fully and genuinely submit my life and will to God

-I will not confess when I have wronged someone and take ownership

-I do not forgive people who have hurt me

-I will avoid facing relationship problems directly with openness, honesty & transparency

-I will not be open to confrontation from others

-I will blame other people & circumstances for the problems in my life

…The damage in this “MASKED LIFE” is that I become shut off from the awareness of my problems & God’s resources to transform them…

-So, … I WILL create a sick cycle and act out of unconscious hurts, then hurt others…

-When someone wears a MASK, they are on a mission to prove that they are perfect….

-They will use their family, work, abilities, or religion to PROJECT an IMAGE of PERFECTION.

-The problem is that “Perfect” people cannot internalize GRACE… so, they will not feel loved at a deep level.

-Love depends, in part, on our ability to own & share our faults.

-[Luke 7:47]  “The one who is forgiven much, loves much”

-In order to be healthy & whole & stop wearing a MASK..  I MUST know:

1)      My Unconditional human worth and value

2)      Love

3)      Continual Growth

-Let’s examine…

1)        UNCONDITIONAL HUMAN WORTH:

-It means that you are important and valuable as a person because your essential, core self is unique, precious, of infinite, eternal, unchanging value, and good.

-Unconditional human worth implies that you are as precious as any other person

-You must know:

A)         All have infinite, eternal and unconditional worth as persons

B)         All have equal value as persons.  Worth is not comparative or competitive

C)         Externals neither add or diminish worth.

D)         Worth is stable and not in jeopardy, even if others reject you.

E)          Worth doesn’t have to be earned or proved.  It already exists.  It must be recognized, accepted and appreciated.

-The Apostle Paul was dealing with “a repeat” like in the Garden of Eden where the Children of God had lost sight of their true identity and nature:

He declared in :

[II COR. 11:1-15], ¹Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. ²For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. ³But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ⁴For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

I.                    Here is HIS (The Apostle Paul’s) FEAR & FRUSTRATION:

V.3, ³But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

THERE ARE FOUR STRONG WORDS:

1.)    SERPENT – (HE COULD HAVE SAID SATAN, BUT HE RELATED HIM TO HIS ORIGINAL ATTACK IN the Garden of EDEN)

SERPENT – (GR-OPHIS)- THROUGH THE IDEA OF SHARPNESS OF VISION.

-[THE GREEK ROOT WORD]   – OPTOMAI –  ENGLISH – OPTIC – TO DO WITH THE VISION OR THE EYE.

[OPTOMAI] –  TO GAZE, TO OBSERVE, TO INSPECT.

*SATAN AS A SERPENT STANDS PATIENTLY OBSERVING, INSPECTING where he can MESS you up…

2.)    SUBTLE – (GR) ADROITNESS IN A BAD SENSE, TRICKERY, CRAFTINESS. SOPHISTRY

3.)    BEGUILED – (GR)  TO SEDUCE WHOLLY OR ENTIRELY IN ORDER TO CHEAT.

4.)    CORRUPTED – (GR) TO WASTE, TO SHRIVEL OR TO RUIN, TO WITHER OR TO SPOIL.

II.                 HIS OBSERVATION of them getting off track:

V. 14, And no^G3762 marvel^G2298; for Satan^G4567 himself^G846 is transformed^G3345 into^G1519 an angel^G32 of light… v15) Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works…

NIV - And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

MASQUERADE -  AN ACTION OR APPEARANCE THAT IS MERE DISGUISE OR OUTWARD SHOW.

TO ASSUME THE APPEARANCE OF SOMETHING ONE IS NOT…

-the real problem paul faced: hypocrisy

hypocrite – a person who puts on a false appearance.

[PS 51:6]  “What you’re after is truth from the inside out.  Enter me, then, conceive a new, true life..

-He was saying…  “let’s get real and take off the masks”