Am I demonstrating? or Am I SLICED?
I. Intro.
A) Should Examine ourselves
Ref: II Cor 13:5
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your
own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
B) Air Force has 6 key traits that you must have to be a leader, these are the same that every Christian
should exhibit.
C) Key point is that if you are missing think your missing one trait your actually see that your missing
more than you think.
D) Tonight well I'll cover the following:
1) What these 6 traits are
2) Examples and non examples of the traits in the Old Testament
3) Examples and non examples of the traits in the New Testament
4) Examples in the form of question for today's life
II. The Traits
A) Selflessness (p.1523)
1) sacrificing personal wants and needs for a greater cause. This includes courage to
face and overcome difficulties.
Ref: Phil 3:8
Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ
B) Loyalty
1) Faithfulness to superiors, subordinates, and peers; a strong sense of duty or responsibility
Ref: Titus 3:1
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work
C) Integrity
1) total commitment to the highest personal & professional standards; honest, sincere, ethical and fair
Ref: Proverbs 11:3
The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
D) Commitment
1)complete devotion to duty; requires us to do our best, under any situation, while doing what
were suppose to
Ref: Luke 16:13
No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
E) Energy
1) enthusiasm & drive to take initiative; setting a good example by being happy what your doing
Ref: Deu 6:5
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
F) Decisiveness
1) Willingness to make decisions, act on them, & accept responsibility for them
Ref: 1 Kings 18:21
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
III. Examples and Non-examples of the Old Testament
A) Selflessness
1) Nabal a man without selflessness
Ref: 1 Samuel 25:
a) Nabal a man with more than anyone needed, but not willing to give anything
yet we see his wife makes a generous amount..
2) Abraham a man with selflessness
Ref: Gen 22:1-12
a) Abraham gave the earthly thing he loved the most his son, to show how he loved and
feared his God. He was willing to sacrifice his son to show his love for God. This is
selflessness.
Are you a Nabal or an Abraham. Do you put your own wants before those of Christ? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself to God and be..... Loyal
B) Loyalty
1) Cain was a dis-loyal man
Ref: Gen 4:3-13
a) Cain was disloyal to:
1) God -- his superior
2) Abel -- his peer
b) Being dis loyal has it's punishments
2) Noah was a loyal man
Ref: Gen 6:12 - 7:1
Genesis 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
a) Noah never asked why, he followed the orders by God. He was faithful to his superior.
Are you a Cain or a Noah.. Are you not always loyal to God, are you not always loyal to his Church?
Noah was a man of loyalty but we also see something else he had and it was integrity
C) Integrity
1) Amnon was of no integrity
Ref: 2 Sam 13: 5-28
a) As ? read earlier we see that Amnon has no regard for integrity or for the loyalty to a
peer. This is a case of no integrity and complete lack of all other traits.
2) Abimelech was a man of integrity
Ref: Gen 20:2-18
a) We see that God himself mentions the integrity of Abimelech. Moreover we see that
even though Abraham lied to him he still gave a portion of what he had to him..
Are you an Amnon or an Abimelech? Do you strive to live by the highest standards in the sight of God?
As we all should have integrity, we need to commit to it, so lets look at commitment.....
D) Commitment
1) The Children of Israel
a) we see that God freed them from Egypt and they didn't stay committed to him
b) The complained of there freedom, and God parted the Red Sea, after they
still didn't stay committed
c) other references are there but I think we see there lack of commitment to God
2) Job was a man of Commitment
a) we see he was:
1) perfect, upright, and feared God Job 1:1
b) God lets the Satan test Job Job 1:12-20
1) Satan takes:
a) family
b) possessions
c) we see that Job never lets his commitment to God fall
d) Finally we see the commitment of Job, keeps his faith in God strong and he
receives 2x more than he had before Job 42:10-17
E) Energy
1) Pharaoh had energy, but it was against God, he persuaded them and his bad energy killed
the Egyptians
Ref: Exodus 14:8-31
2) Joshua was a man of energy
Ref: Joshua 1:1-13
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, [even] to the children of Israel.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
_____________________________THEN IN VERSES 10-11________________________________
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.
Are you a Pharaoh or a Jacob, do you but all your energy to things other than God or do you give your complete all to Christ?
So if you give your energy , sometime your gonna have to make a decision
F) Decisiveness
1) Adam ad Eve showed bad decision making
Ref: Gen 3:1-24
a) we see that they decided to eat of the tree which God had commanded them not to
This is a choice the made, they acted on, and had to accept responsibility for.
2) David was a man of Decisiveness
Ref: 1 Sam 17:32-50
a) We see that David made the choice, acted on it, and took responsibility for what
he had done.
b) We see his was committed to God, had the energy, made the decision, upheld
his integrity and showed selflessness by be willing to sacrifice all he was for the
greater cause of Victory in God
We see how each traits is somehow connected. Now that we have looked at the old testament lest take a look at the same traits with examples in the new testament
III. Examples of 6 traits in the New Testament
A) Selflessness
1) The Rich young ruler is a great example of no selflessness
Ref: Mat 19:16-22
a) He had obeyed the commandments, but he could not give up his physical riches
He could not see that his earthly possessions were nothing compared to what Christ
could offer in heaven..
2) Stephen was a man of selflessness
Ref: Acts 7:48-60
a) He continued on preaching the words of Christ until the unbelieving stoned him
That's giving and sacrificing to help a greater cause then your own.
Once Again do you have the Selflessness of keeping all for yourself, or do you have the desire to give
all to God?
B) Loyalty
1) Peter when trying to walk across the water to Christ lost some of what makes up
his loyalty
Ref: Matt 14: 28-31
a) We see that part of loyalty is keeping the faith, when Peter say the wind get worse
he became afraid and started to sink. Yet we know there are better persons to mention
with a lack of loyalty, but the lesson here is that he slipped as we all do, but maybe by this
lesson of Peter we can hold ourselves to a higher level of loyalty.
2) Peter was also a very loyal man.
a) We know that he made his mistakes, he denied the Christ even. But lest look at 2
examples where his loyalty was far above compare
1)Peter comes to what he thinks is the rescue of Christ when he is being taken
away... Ref: Mat 26:50-54
a)Christ tells Peter not to interfere for without this the scriptures aren't fulfilled
2) Who delivered the sermon at the day of Pentecost...? Peter did
Ref: Acts 2:14-47
a) Peter remained loyal to Christ after his ascension into heaven, his loyalty
to Christ I believe is shown clearly
So is your loyalty often broken, or do you continue to be faithful, maintain allegiance, and show a strong sense of responsibility?
C) Integrity
A) Judas of Iscariot was a man without integrity
Ref: Matt 26:21-25
1) he admits to betraying Jesus, all for earthly wealth. This is not holding thyself
unto the highest standards. Further on in the story we see that he is in remorse for
what he had done and then took his own life..
B) John the Baptist was a man of Integrity
Ref: Matt 3: 1- 17
1) We see that john wants everyone to hold to the highest standards.
2) We see is singles out the Pharisees and the Sadducees and tells them to repent
3) Then when the Christ comes to him to be baptized, he then shows loyalty
to him, saying that he is not worthy.
4) I think we see the full span of all traits and Integrity most of all .
So are you willing to be intised by things of this world and lower your standards or, are do you have the integrity to hold yourself to the Highest of standards which Christ tells us to hold??
D) Commitment & Energy
1) Saul was a man of commitment, but not to God
Ref: Acts 22
a) In Acts 22 we see Saul after his conversion to Paul telling his life story
after being taken prisoner
a) Saul persecuted Christians and saw nothing wrong with it.
b) this is commitment but the wrong way
2) Paul was a man of commitment
Ref: Pick One
a) We know that after his conversion Paul never strayed form his love for God
we see many times in his writings that life was never easy for him, that he was beaten,
imprisoned and even thrown overboard, but in the Letter to the Phillipians see no matter
what has happened he is content in his life that he dedicated to Christ..
Are you an invisible Saul, persecuting those around you and acting like a friend, or are you a Paul, have you learned to be Content in whatever state that you are in???? Most of all are you committed to Christ??
E) Decisiveness
1) Pilate at the trial of Jesus shows a bad example of decisiveness
Ref: Matt 27:17-24
a) Even though Pilate decision made it possible for Christ to be crucified and sin to be forgiven, he still could had made a the choice to spare Jesus in this instance. Instead, his
decision was made by the people and they and he are responsible..
2) The Ethiopian Eunuch was a man of whom decisiveness is in , and a lesson to us
Ref: Acts 8:36-39
a) He made the choice, acted on it, and took responsibility for what he had done..
Are you Pilate and let people make your decision for you or are you like the eunuch who made his decision to be saved by the word of God?
IV Examples today in forms of questions to you
A) Selflessness
1) Do you give all you have to give to God without remorse?
2) Do you count coming to Church and other Church functions as sacrifice?
B) Loyalty
1) Are you loyal to God in everyway?
2) Are you to his Church or is your allegiance somewhere else?
C) Integrity
1) Do you confide your love of God inside or do you let his light shine through you?
2) Can you be intised to leave his church for some earthly prize? Can you?
D) Commitment
1) Are you and your heart committed to the will of Christ?
2) Are you and your heart with his Church?
E) Energy
1) Do you take the initiative to do all you can and participate in the service?
2) Does your enthusiasm for Christ really show, or are you the only one who knows?
D) Decisiveness
1) Do you make the choice to surround yourself with those of like faith as much as you can?
2) Have you made the choice to be faithful until the end?
V Conclusion
A) We covered the following
1) What these 6 traits are
2) Examples and non examples of the traits in the Old Testament
3) Examples and non examples of the traits in the New Testament
4) Examples in the form of question for today's life
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