“Jesus’ Priority is for your Faithfulness!”

Key Verses:  Matthew 25:14-30; John 17:4

September 6, 2020

Today, we are going to end our sermon series entitled “Responding to the Priorities of Jesus!” by looking at how we should respond to the priority of Jesus to be on mission with Him—to “Go!” as He commands us His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 and empowers His Church in Acts 1:8. It is the heart of this message to call you to a faithful life as measured by the only true comparison of successful living: Jesus’ life. Truly, how we define success has great power over our daily lives and how we feel about the lives we are living.

Jesus prayed in John 17:4, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” We are to seek Him first (Matthew 6:33) and pray for with our whole hearts to be found faithful in Him! Faithfulness to the God who has chosen and called each of us to walk in the good works He has prepared us (Ephesians 2:10). This, ultimately, is the way to mission fulfillment—your and my faithful living is found through abiding in Him and bearing His fruit (John 15:1-17)!

Jesus was faithful with what God asked Him to do. Please remember that Jesus didn’t do everything He could have done, but He did everything that was asked of Him. He did not heal every person, feed every person, or respond to every human need or societal injustice of His time, but Jesus, without equivocation, did all that was asked of Him by His Father. This biblical reality of Jesus’ life is the heartbeat of this sermon. To emphasize that the call to “Go!” is first and foremost a call to be faithful to God, not successful in your own endeavors or goals.

How quickly and easily we make it all about us and our goals when faithfulness to the mission is all about Him!

Please turn with me to Matthew 25:14-30 and let us learn from Jesus’ Parable of the Talents.

Jesus’ words of praise for each disciple who stewarded his or her talents wisely was, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master [italics added]” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

It is critical to note that the word Jesus used was “faithful” and not successful. The Greek word translated “faithful” is πιστός; Jesus not only used it in the Parable of the Talents, but Paul also used it to describe his disciple Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4:17, “For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful [italics added] child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.”

Both Jesus and Paul made it overt and clear that “faithful” is what is desired of God’s chosen servants.

Faithfulness is the covenant priority of Jesus Christ for each of His follower’s lives. This is where so much tension exists in the hearts and minds of Christians today: What does it mean to be faithful? One of the most dangerous questions that Christians and church leaders ask alike is What does a successful church look like?

People ask this question constantly, but not always consciously, when they are deciding to attend, or remain, at a church. We apply a rubric of success to determine if such and such a place is worthy of our presence and time and financial support. Forgetting, the entire time, that God is measuring us by the plumb line of His Son.

Christians and church leaders must return to the priority of faithfulness because for far too long the local church has reaped what it has sown by forgetting that what God is looking for, in word and deed, is our faithfulness to Him, not the multiplicity of definitions of success by the people of God.

Jesus’ last words to Peter in John 21:15-22 were neither “tend My Lambs,” “shepherd My sheep,” nor “tend My sheep,” but rather the very direct, “You Follow Me!” Jesus finished with Peter in the same exact place He started with Him: “Follow Me”. In order for Peter to accomplish all that God intended for him to accomplish, what mattered most was that he was in a discipleship relationship with Jesus Christ. The same is true for members and leaders of churches today. Many churches are struggling today because the leaders have lived out of the mistaken idea that Jesus’ desire for His church leaders is their successful accomplishment of a mission, rather than their faithful commitment to His clear invitation to relationship (“Follow Me!”).

I am not saying the church does not have a mission, but I am saying that the church can only accomplish the mission of God when it prioritizes union with the God of mission. Apart from Christ, I can do nothing! Apart from the presence of God, the church can accomplish nothing of missional value, no matter how much it grows in worldly success. The presence of God is everything to accomplish the mission; it always has been.

A heavy yoke has been passed down to twenty-first century church leaders who are striving to be accountable to the myriad of ideas of what a church should look like and what it should be doing in order to be successful. As a beloved pastor to pastors stated to his fellow American pastors in the late twentieth century:

American pastors are abandoning their posts, left and right, and at an alarming rate. They are not leaving their churches… But they are abandoning their posts, their calling. They have gone whoring after other gods. … The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns… .[1]

When a pastor tries to make your church successful, that pastor is making a decision to have hundreds of opinions attempt to define his or her job description and the focus of that church’s energies and resources. That is slavery and a recipe for failure at every level.

Church researchers passionate about returning the church to its intended mission state that “most Christian churches today need to undertake a radical re-evaluation of what Christian ministry really is—what its aims and goals are, how it proceeds, and what part we all play in its exercise. This may require some radical, and possibly painful, changes of mindset.”[2]

What do we learn from the Parable of the Talents? We learn that in order to be found faithful by God we must take what He has entrusted to us and multiply it for His glory. To put it very succinctly, Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

The mission of God is about not hiding your light or burying your talent. It’s about believing God for what He has given you and investing it or shining it forth. If you pay attention closely, the only person in the parable who was worried about success was the one whose fear bound him up to hide his talent (Matthew 25:24-25). I extrapolate from this that when you know the character of God, you have no reason to worry about success!

Pastor Kent Hughes and his wife Barbara concluded, “we found no place where it says that God’s servants are called to be successful. Rather, we discovered our call is to be faithful.”[3]

Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy [italics added].” Not surprisingly, the same word πιστός is translated “trustworthy” in this passage. This is the calling of all Christians, above any model of church growth or job description of missional living: our entire lives are to be conduits and testimonies of God’s grace working in and through us. We invest our talents! We SHINE!

Sadly, faithfulness to God is not the twenty-first century American Church’s driving expectation for themselves, nor is it most church’s definition of success for their pastors or church leaders. Listen to Pastor Kent Hughes and what he learned from his pastoral “dark night of the soul,”

When success in the ministry becomes the same as success in the world, the servant of God evaluates his success like a businessman or an athlete or a politician. Subconsciously I was evaluating nearly everything from the perspective of how it would effect church growth. I realized that I had been subtly seduced by the secular thinking that places a number on everything. Instead of evaluating myself and the ministry from God’s point of view, I was using the world’s standards of quantitative analysis.[4]

When this ministry couple finally learned this lesson, there was tangible transformation in Kent as a person and pastor. His wife, Barbara, testifies,

The presence of the success syndrome has been lifted from [Kent], and it seemed he had eased back into freedom we all have in Christ. We had discovered that the miserable yoke of worldly success is so crushing, because it is a burden that God’s servants were never meant to bear.[5]

It is only in the easy yoke of Jesus that a pastor can be transformed from the inside out and start leading the church forward with a new mindset—faithfulness! There must be a return to the heart of Christian ministry:

The great message that we have to carry, as ministers of God’s Word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.[6]

This is God’s mission! This is how we are to respond to Jesus’ invitation to participate in His mission.

The journey to faithfulness is a transformative one that must begin in the heart of each person. The Greek word μεταμορφόω, translated “transformed” in Romans 12:2, is where we get the English word metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is described as “the process by which a caterpillar enters into the darkness of the cocoon in order to emerge, eventually, changed almost beyond recognition.”[7] Jesus made it very clear that this was an impossibility apart from God, intentionally, because it is our stories being transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ that lifts up the name of Jesus Christ to a world that so desperately needs to see and experience God.

You can listen to the message here.

You can watch the message HERE.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), 1-2.

[2] Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything (Youngstown, OH: Matthias Media, 2009), 17.

[3] Kent & Barbara Hughes, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, 35.

[4] Ibid., 29-20.

[5] Ibid., 106.

[6] Henri J. M. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1989), 30.

[7] Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms, 12.

e2020: A Year of Celebration!

“Jesus’ Priority for You is to Become Gentle and Humble in Heart!”

Matthew 11:29

If Christian discipleship is the work of the church, then the formative work of the Holy Spirit is the heartbeat of all that we do. We call this spiritual formation. When I use the word spiritual and formation together, I am talking about how the Holy Spirit is the acting agent in fulfilling Jesus’ promises in you and through you. You are incapable of doing them on your own. So, let me say it simply and directly: Spiritual Formation is the heart of the church because apart from the work of the Holy Spirit we can neither become like Jesus Christ nor live as Christians. Christian witness/mission/outreach is all about Image Bearing! It’s all God’s grace!

Christian Discipleship is the intentional journey of living your life like Jesus Christ. One of the greatest dangers in the church is conformity to outward observances of Christian discipleship with no heart transformation. The world calls that “fake it unto you make it”, but we all know what it really is—acting (“hypocrisy”). Discipleship must happen from the inside out, not the outside in. Christian spiritual formation can be defined this way:

The Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself. [It] is focused entirely on Jesus. Its goal is an obedience or conformity to Christ that arises out of an inner transformation accomplished through purposive interaction with the grace of God in Christ. “That Christ be formed within you,” is the eternal watchword of Christian spiritual formation (Galatians 4:19, PAR). This word is fortified by the deep moral and spiritual insight that, while “the letter of the law kills, the spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6, PAR). Christlikeness of the inner being is not a human attainment. It is, finally, a gift of grace.[1]

Jesus’ desire for your spiritual formation is to be the priority of your life. Listen again to his famous invitations of discipleship. From Mark 1:17 and Matthew 11:28-30:

Jesus’ invitation into Christian discipleship comes with a goal: to become something that only Jesus, the Promise Giver can do in us through God’s grace! Next week, I’ll be focusing on the priority of mission (“the fisher of men”), but today I am focusing on what must happen within you for your mission work to have any eternal results (You must become like Jesus who is “gentle and humble in heart”).

I believe that if you miss this you will miss the abundant life, no matter how hard you work for Jesus because to do any work for God apart from God is to carry a heavy burden that will crush you. We can’t be like Jesus or do the work of Jesus apart from Jesus living in the center of our lives—our hearts! Spiritual formation is the inner renovation of the outward person—is it the becoming the new wine skins, the new tree, so that you can carry the new wine and bear the fruit of the Spirit.

To do any work for God apart from God, even if in the Name of God, is to fall short no matter the appearances of success or godliness because if there is one thing we learn over and over from the Bible: God looks to the heart, not the appearances (1 Samuel 16:7)!

And what is God looking for in the heart? He tells us over and over again in the Bible: humility (God-reliance!), not pride (self-reliance!).

What does it mean to that Jesus’ priority for every one of His disciples is that we become like Him, “gentle and humble in heart”?

Without a big long research discussion about it, Jesus’ priority for every one of us is our complete submission to the Father’s will. To be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29)—the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This has always been God’s plan for us—to be His Image Bearers!

Humility, at its core, humility, is a revolution over the central command of your life. Because all things flow from your heart—guard it (Proverbs 4:23). You or God will rule your known universe—salvation is found in the reality of that—look to the fruit of your thoughts and action and you will know if you are humble or proud.

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”

This is not new…this was not something Jesus brought into the world. It was what Jesus and His Father and the Holy Spirit created into us from the very beginning. When we act in proud ways, we are screaming out in rebellion against the God who made us to be yoked to Him and to no other, including our own lives.

“Humus is the Latin word for earth (a rich and nutrient-filled soil) and is also the root word for human. Humility is derived from the same word, humilitas, one who is grounded or near to the earth.”[2] 

“Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Let’s agree to some basic, but highly controversial, biblical anthropology: man was first formed by God of the dust from the ground. Humans are designed to be humble by the very fact of how we were created—of the earth, but given life by the very God who made us! Apart from God’s grace we have no life, so to believe we have ever had life apart from Him is the root of pride. This is why the origin story is so controversial—it’s a battle for supremacy.

I have heard it said that the greatest deception is when a proud person considers himself or herself humble. The easiest way to explain this is to remind you that you are a container (“jar of clay”) for glory, not the glory itself (2 Corinthians 4:7-9). When we lose sight of this or forget it or deny it, pride sets in and humility is lost.

Moses was considered the most humble man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). Now consider this: Moses led the Israelites out of slavery to Egypt in the first exodus, but who led all humans in the second exodus out of slavery to sin? Who is considered the second Moses, with even greater authority and standing than the first Moses? Jesus, the new Moses! Yes, humility is essential! God trusts humble vessels with His works because “jars of clay” don’t seek to rob God of the glory that is only due to God alone. They simple shine forth!

Throughout church history, it has been said that humility is the queen of the virtues. Because, at its heart, humility is about seeking first God and His rule for our lives. Humility is about our rejoining in the effort for which we were designed—to be Image Bearers of God! To work the ground from which we came. To love one another as He first loved us. To build and expand a community of people that will live willingly and lovingly under the teachings of God, most clearly seen and experienced through Jesus Christ.

To be humble is to be completely submitted to the heart of God for your life. Listen to Jesus talk about this from the Gospel of John 5:19; 8:28–29; 12:49–50; 17:4, 7–8, 20–21:

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. … When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. … For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me. … I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. … Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. … I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

I close with this practical example from Jesus and the great test of our humility. Turn with me to John 13:5-15,

Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

We are to become gentle and humble in heart, like Jesus. How, by taking on His lifestyle and doing what He did. If this was the life and teaching of our Master and Teacher, then it must become our lifestyle, too. But I warn you, again as I did in the beginning of this teaching time, that to do this apart from spiritual formation is to attempt love, service, and forgiveness by your own power and strength. And if there is one thing that we need to be warned of, it is our pride to think that we can do anything apart from God.

The first step to true humility is a full surrender to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The renovation of your heart and life; the revolution for your soul, starts with His grace, His love, His service, His forgiveness. All else flows from His heart…

The second step is to do it again and again, every day, every moment of your life. To remember that you are a vessel to shine forth His glory… what a privilege!

[1] Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (Carol Stream, IL: NavPress, 2012), 22-23.

[2] Brenna Davis, “Humus, Humiliy, and Human.” (February 26, 2020). Accessed August 30, 2020. https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/humus-humans-and-humility. I attribute my awareness of this idea to the Rev. Rex Espiritu who shared it with me for the first time nearly a decade ago in a private discussion.

You can listen to the message here.

You can watch the message HERE.

Responding with Love

Colossians 3:12-15

We continue the series today with what most would say is the driving force of all the priorities of Jesus…LOVE. Think about it! For it was out of love for us that God sent his one and only Son to save us. It was out of love, that Jesus came to earth and walked among mankind, sharing the message of God’s love for them. Along the way, it was out of love that He healed the sick, the blind, the lame and brought the dead back to life. It was love, not nails, that held Him on the cross to die for our sins. When He rose again, He had a heart to heart talk with Simon Peter, and out of love for him, restored the call with “if you love me, feed my sheep.” He was not asking, giving him options to only care for the ones that loved him back. No, he was telling him to love, care for, protect all of the ones that Jesus was now placing in his care.

Even with Paul’s transformation, he moved from being a religious bully to a proclaimer of God’s amazing love, grace and mercy for all mankind, Jews and Gentiles alike! We are going to study today what Paul wrote to the church of Colossae, which in reality could be written to the church today!

Colossians 3:12-15

  “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.   Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”                   

So, let me ask you…Do you believe God has chosen you by calling you out of darkness into His marvelous light and love? YES or NO. If so, then you are to do the following:

I.  Clothe Yourself with Tenderhearted Mercy, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness and Patience, and Forgive.

This is a six point sermon topic in itself! But if we look back at the beginning of this chapter, it helps us keep this in context and understand the directions that Paul was giving to the church members.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. “                             Colossians 3:1-2

They are reminded that since they are raised to a new life in Christ, they cannot think or act the way they used to in their sinful nature. It is no longer “What about me and my rights?”, but rather “What is it that God wants me to do?”

This is a really tough one for me sometimes, especially when someone I care for is being affected by something that I feel is out and out wrong. My Papa Bear mode kicks in and I want to protect them and hurt the ones that are causing the pain. But then here comes God, using His Word to remind me that I am no longer of this world, and I have to react first and foremost as Jesus would react.

Zondervan’s Bible Commentary says: 

“As they have been chosen to be holy they must put on the garments of salvation, the new robe of character whose texture is sympathy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience…These are the qualities to prevent friction and will help to settle their quarrels if any exist, their forgiveness being prompted by Christ’s forgiveness to them, as is expected of them.”

https://www.picturemosaics.com/photomosaics/id/180

II.  ABOVE ALL, Clothe Yourself with Love

Have you ever had a new shirt on, and there was this random thread? (or you thought it was random) You pull it out, only to discover that it was a vital thread holding the seam together or a button on. Now I am fortunate enough to be married to someone who knows how to sew, but it still doesn’t mean that it wasn’t needed. It was a connective thread.

Love is vital. And if it these qualities are present in the community of believers, it will reduce or eliminate frictions of all kinds. Paul would not have reminded them of this command if it were automatic or was effortless for us to do. You have to work at loving each other, giving and receiving grace and forgiveness. The core of love is not emotion, but commitment. And not commitment to make the other person happy, but rather genuine concern for their well being and seeking to help them be more like Christ.

Also, it is not like they could just pull out the Bible and have a copy of the letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians in their struggle with loving others. But we can!

 I Corinthians 13:4-8a

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

III.  Let the Peace of Christ Rule Your Heart and Be Thankful

“…it is no longer I that lives, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20).

Jesus comes into our lives, not to bully us or make us mindless puppets, but rather to help us experience life to its fullest. If we love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, then we will keep His commands and live in peace. And out of that love flows our love for one another, which leads to living in peace with Christ and each other. When everything is peaceful, then it is truly easy to be grateful and thankful.

And just like love, peace is something we have to work at by allowing grace to work in and through our lives. It is also important to remember to not only be thankful to God, but to be thankful to others around you. That will also help promote peace and harmony in a fellowship of believers.

CONCLUSION:

If we as a body of believers would make this the norm, the standard by how we live each and every day, imagine the difference we could make for the Kingdom of God. We say that we are friends with Jesus, but too many are treating that friendship as an acquaintance. Get back to your first Love, that deep, genuine, personal love between you and the One who created you. When you put Him first, in your thoughts, in your plans, in your schedule, you will find that peace that passes all understanding.

 Benediction Blessing:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”                                                                              Colossians 2:16-17

You can listen to the message here. 

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2020: A Year of Celebration!

The Priority of Rest!

Key Verses:  Matthew 11:28-30; 12:1-16 & Hebrews 4:1-11

One of our big 7 words at FBC is “Rest”. These 7 big words are what our church considers priorities of Jesus and essential marks of the people of God. Today, we are going to talk about the one of seven words that no other church in America, that I know of, has prioritized for their ministries like we have here at FBC: REST!

Just like with last week’s big word “follow”, this week’s big word of “rest” is a word that has lost its biblical meaning in contemporary culture. Therefore, we are going to chase after the depth of Jesus’ promise and priority for our life by examining the rest motif of Scripture. We are going to start with Jesus’ words then learn from two illustrations from His life. Next, we are going to press into the origins of the concept and Old Covenant usage and finally bring it closure with a New Testament admonition to be diligent to enter God’s rest.

Apart from this kind of biblical study, we are left with a very watered-down cultural understanding that falls so far short of Jesus’ intent that even if you sincerely wanted to obey you couldn’t and would fall into either extreme of a legalistic sabbath-day observance (like the Pharisees) or a sinful permissiveness as found in most  American churches.

We are being invited to walk in the ways of Jesus by living according to His priorities!

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

We looked at this last week and saw that the context of this passage is in Jesus’ invitation to follow Him in Christian discipleship. Jesus was calling a Jewish people who were living unfaithful lives to God, just like the people in Jeremiah’s time were before the sacking of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the 70-year Babylonian exile.

Today, we are going to focus on Jesus’ one word promise: REST! Rest is a major theme throughout the Bible. Listen to this quick overview of Jesus’ promise of rest:

It includes peace of mind and heart, and relief from uncertainty and anxiety. It is a deep refreshment that enables a person to go back to his or her tasks with renewed strength and energy. It is relief from sin and guilt, and from striving after salvation. It is an eschatological rest, and reflects the language of Jeremiah 6:16, but it is also a present reality. This “rest” is a proper fellowship with God. It is not idleness or inaction, but the contentment and full life that come from knowing and living by the truth which God’s Son reveals. It is eternal, eschatological salvation by faith. It speaks of a refreshing and fulfillment that looks forward to the eschatological Sabbath.^[1]

This is what Jesus is promising you! Better than a rocker on the front porch, or a weekend off, or a vacation to one of America’s many meccas of entertainment, or even retirement! Wow! This is a really BIG promise!

Now, let’s take the second step in our study and watch the two back-to-back illustrations of this rest from Jesus’ ministry life. Watch Jesus at work in Matthew 12:1-16, immediately after He gives His famous promise of rest:

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath [the Jewish day of rest], and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? “But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? “How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him. But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to tell who He was.

I invite you to really pay attention to how Jesus worked on the Sabbath. He did not reduce nor remove it; Jesus reformed and fulfilled the Sabbath! Jesus emphasized His authority as the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mt. 12:8). In fact, Matthew intentionally placed these two sabbath stories immediately after Jesus’ invitation to find rest in Him. The literary proximity has theological implications, which we are about to look at.

Jesus’ actions on that sabbath in Matthew 12 were not in rebellion to the original sabbath commandment as given in Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15, but they were a scathing rebuke of the religious leaders’ perversion of God’s heart. Jesus was all about this one thing: returning people to the heart of God!

This leads us to our third step in our study of FBC’s big word of REST: to explore the biblical origins of Jesus’ promise of rest, rooted in the Old Testament Sabbath command.

The fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments is God’s command “to CEASE”, which is what the word sabbath means. Exodus 20:8-11 is grounded in the creation motif of Genesis, stating,

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy [italics added]. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy [italics added].

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [italics added], because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

God sanctified, made holy, the seventh day because it was the day that He rested to delight in His completed work. As one scholar points out from the original Hebrew language, “The Sabbath day is a holy day. Interestingly, the only thing God deems as qadosh, or ‘holy,’ in the creation story is the Sabbath day.”^[2]

This was the first intent of the fourth commandment: the Sabbath command is to cease from your own striving in order to rest in God’s delight of His completed work. It is a separation from your own capabilities in order to remember His ability. As another Christian author explains, “Keeping the Sabbath day constantly reminds us that Yahweh is to be pre-eminent in our lives.”^[3]

Submission to the command to cease facilitates the “habitual practice” of resting in God one day per week, as it fuels the rhythm of prioritizing God as pre-eminent in each and every day. Jesus’ promise and priority of rest is rooted in rich theology. It is yoked in the hālakh of God—the habitual lifestyle choices of covenant faithfulness!

If you are not resting, then your life is out of control! We are good at pointing the inverse of this out to people who don’t work—we are a culture infatuated with our own self-efficacy and capabilities! That is proving to be our downfall because our culture has uprooted itself from resting in God’s sovereign grace! Truly, rest is all about learning to work in God’s rhythm of grace; to work from rest, which is faith and trust in God!

Sabbath is about submission to God’s Sovereign Rule over us because, unlike the Lord’s finished work at creation, human work is always incomplete. I can always justify work!  Gordon MacDonald wrote, “We do not rest because our work is done; we rest because God commanded it and created us to have a need for it.”^[4]

People are called to a deeper trust in God by ceasing from their own efforts to make this life work out for them the way they want it to. It is surrender; it is a means of grace. All of humanity’s work, as from the Garden, was to flow from the divine wellspring of God’s grace, just as our good works are to flow from faith. Both are essential, but the order is critical—faith always comes before works! We are saved by grace through faith!  

From the very beginning, humanity’s first experience was not to work for rest, but work from rest. Choosing not to walk in this intended rhythm demonstrates a fundamental disbelief in, and rebellion against, a most fundamental of our Christian doctrines from Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

The rest motif of the Old Testament teaches that humanity serves not only the God of creation, but also the God of salvation, who delights in rescuing His people from slavery. The second giving of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy came with a different motive clause for the Sabbath command. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 explains,

Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

The exodus of God’s people from Pharaoh’s oppressive lordship in Egypt renewed the purpose of the fourth commandment, anchoring it in God’s redemptive work. Rest is an act of divine justice between God and humanity that we are called to participate in every week, between men and women!

God’s people had forgotten how to trust Him because of living under the heavy burden of an oppressive regime. God desired for His people to taste and see that they could trust their God to provide for them by the work of His hand, rather than by the works of their own hands and the sweat of their own brows.

How far humanity had fallen from Eden, to so fundamentally distrust the good gifts that came from the hand of the God who created them and delivered them. Sabbath was a day to declare divine deliverance from slavery. God rescued them so that they could enter into His rest, as they were created to do. It is freedom!

The Exodus became an early foreshadowing of the rest that was to come through Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated a true observance of this deliverance motif of the sabbath in Luke 13:10-17, when He declared His motivation for violating the Pharisees’ legalistic rules of sabbath observance:

You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had forgotten—not their own rules added to the Sabbath command, but the true intent behind its observance—divine deliverance! In upholding their own rules about sabbath they had created a new yoke of slavery, instead of commemorating the shattering of the heavy yoke of Pharaoh’s slavery.

Once again, just as the Israelites in Egypt had forgotten, the people Jesus was teaching had forgotten how to trust God because of living under the heavy burden of an oppressive regime. In fact, it was this very religious “heavy-burden” that Jesus came to take off of God’s people. Jesus promised a one word solution to lift these “heavy burdens”: REST! 

Sabbath is an active resistance against the oppressive regimes of this world, animated by the forces of evil who refuse to give up any claim for their rule over man, even though Jesus has rightfully reclaimed us!

Have God’s people forgotten again from what He has saved us? Are we once again living under an oppressive regime and don’t even realize that we are slaves to the same demonic principality that led Pharaoh to enslave an entire people group of over a million people just so he can build more storage facilities for more of his stuff?

If we can’t rest from our unfinished work, then have we truly found rest in Jesus’ finished work?

This bring us to our final step in our learning journey for today and a clear admonition of the New Testament for you to work hard at entering the rest of God. Hebrews 4:9–11 is critical; it informs and instructs,

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest [italics added], so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

Rest is the hardest and most important work you will ever do! Because Sabbath has always been about trust, and in that trust, the living out of covenant faithfulness. As Pastor Ken preached recently, “True rest is trust!”

Jesus Christ is the rest His original Jewish audience had been awaiting, but did not recognize. Jesus Christ is the rest this world desperately needs, but is too loud and busy to recognize, even well-intentioned religious people!

(Due to personnel being on vacation, there may be a week or 2 delay)

You can listen to the message here:

This Message Video can be viewed HERE.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] David Abernathy, An Exegetical Summary of Matthew 1–16, Exegetical Summaries, 412–413.

[2] A. J. Swoboda, Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World, 12.

[3] Marva J. Dawn, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: easing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting, 141.

[4] Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World, 174.

The Priority of Following Jesus!

Key Verses:  Matthew 4:18-20

One of our big 7 words is “Follow”. These 7 big words are what our church considers priorities of Jesus and essential marks of the people of God. We talk about these all the time because it is not enough to know them, but to live them. I have heard it said that I should never preach a new message until we are obeying the last one I preached; that it’s our hunger for novelty that keeps us immature in our thinking and living.

Biblically, we don’t know something until we are living it as a habitual lifestyle. For example: you don’t know the Lord’s prayer until you pray the Lord’s prayer. And you aren’t praying it until you are living it.

Do you see the difference?

In this gap is what one theologian called “The Great Omission” of our Great Commission. We are not calling people to follow Jesus; to becoming people who live in habitual lifestyles of following Jesus—being His apprentices, His learners. He explained it this way, using athletic imagery like the Apostle Paul did:

We know [that young people] won’t succeed [in becoming like a professional baseball player] if all they do is try to be like him in the game—no matter how gifted they may be in their own way. And we all understand why. The star performer himself didn’t achieve his excellence by trying to behave a certain way only during the game. Instead, he chose an overall life of preparation of mind and body pouring all his energies into that total preparation, to provide a foundation in the body’s automatic responses and strength for his conscious efforts during the game. … And what is true of specific activities is, of course, also true of life as a whole. … A baseball player who expects to excel in the game without adequate exercise in his body is no more ridiculous than the Christian who hopes to be able to act in the manner of Christ when put to the test without the appropriate exercise in godly living. As is obvious from the record of his own life, Jesus understood this fact well and lived accordingly. … To live as Christ lived is to live as he did all his life.[1]

This gets to the heart of what it means to follow Jesus, so let’s now listen to Matthew 4:18-20:

Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Later, in a different setting to a larger Jewish audience whom Jesus had just renounced for this unfaithfulness to God’s ways, Jesus invited to follow Him in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

In both these Scriptures, the Koine Greek word (the original language of the New Testament) translated “follow” in Matthew 4:19 (cf. Mark 1:17) and “come” in Matthew 11:28 is δεῦτε. We see these words as very different, but they are actually the same word. In fact, we have distorted understandings of the word “follow” due to the dominance of social media understandings of what it means to “follow” someone.

Let’s explore some of these connections to get a larger understanding of why this is Jesus’ priority: What is Jesus actually inviting us to do when He invites us to “Follow” or “Come” to Him.

When you become Jesus’ friend by following Him, that doesn’t mean that you can disregard Him on any given day or disobey Him on any given issue. Just because you can stop following anyone you want, anytime you want, doesn’t mean that you can have that same attitude with Jesus Christ. Jesus’ word choice doesn’t allow it!

Let’s start in Mark 10:14-15 Jesus utilized this phrase as an invitation to the kingdom of God:

Permit the children to come to Me [italics added]; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. (cf. Matthew 19:14 & Luke 18:16)

From Luke 6:46-48, Jesus admonished His disciples,

Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me [italics added] and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus commanded potential disciples to carry their own crosses:

If anyone comes to Me [italics added], and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me [italics added] so that you may have life.”

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me  [italics added] will not hunger, and he who believes in Me [italics added] will never thirst.”

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me [italics added] and drink. He who believes in Me [italics added], as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

This parallelism is like a neon sign of Jesus’ intent on what it means to truly come to Him—to enter His life with God through faith in Him. And faith in Him is manifest in a life of learning from Him how to be like Him.

To truly get the heart of this, we need to dive deeper into the mindset of Jesus and His Old Covenant audience.

This Greek word δεῦτε is a translation of the important Hebrew word הלך (hālakh). Listen to meaning behind this rich Old Testament word; hālakh “has a common metaphorical sense that pertains to one’s manner of living. To walk (hālak) in a certain lifestyle or custom is to habitually practice [italics added] it.”^[2]

So many rich examples are found throughout the Old Testament, but I’m only going to share three.  

First, it is used twice in the covenantal passage of Isaiah 2:1-5:

The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths’ [italics added]. For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord [italics added].

Second, it is used in Psalm 81:11-16

“But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices. Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! [Italics added] I would quickly subdue their enemies And turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, And their time of punishment would be forever. But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Last, it is used in the famous exhortation of God in Micah 6:6-8,

With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? [italics added]

Are you noticing a trend in the rich usage of the word hālakh? And don’t be deceived, Jesus brought all of those covenantal promises (the blessings and the curses) with Him when he used the Greek word δεῦτε, which we hear in the now overly familiar command of “follow Me” and “Come to Me”, which we have further neutered as a social media word to sometimes pay attention to, sometimes agree or disagree with, sometimes share…

We’ve got to understand the gravity of what it means to “follow” Jesus! Based on Jesus’ word choice, there is a clear foreshadowing that He was asking something of those who “come” to Him; essentially, this invitation is not a one-time action, but an ongoing journey of following Jesus through the “habitual practice” of His way of life. For example, He got up early to pray… He quoted Scripture to fight against temptation…

Jesus’ invitation has profound implications. Through a word choice that was unmistakable to His original Jewish audience, but easily missed by today’s audience, Jesus directly aligned His call to discipleship (“Follow Me”) with what it means to be saved, to find one’s life, while also directly connecting Himself to the ancient promises of God’s redeemed rule over all nations and the Messiah’s eternal reign over all of God’s creation.

Jesus’ call to discipleship was, and is, an invitation to enter into a relationship with God by joining Him in His relationship with the Father. Jesus declared Himself to be more than Moses; He is wisdom and Torah incarnate!

“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

I conclude with a connection between the OT and NT: God speaks through His prophet in Jeremiah 6:13-21,

“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord. Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; [italics added] And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ [italics added] “And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ “Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. “Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also. “For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.” Therefore, thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish.”

All the promises of God are yours in Jesus Christ. All the blessings and all the curses of the Old Covenant…

I read this to you because it was played out again in Jesus’ day; Listen to Jesus in Matthew 11:20-28:

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

It’s being played out again today! Following Jesus is so much more than following someone on FB. It is the only way to find your life, to be saved, and to experience the promises of God in this life and for eternal life.

Honestly friends, you don’t have to teach a young athlete or actor or singer who wants to be like their favorite star, how to take on their mannerisms and lifestyle, their beliefs and attitudes, and their activities (on and off the stage/field). You don’t have to teach that to anyone. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, 3-5.

[2] Joshua Hebert, “Travel,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

(Due to personnel being on vacation, there may be a week or 2 delay)

You can listen to the message here:

This Message Video can be viewed HERE.

“First Things First”

Key Verses: Luke 2:41-52

LUKE 2:41-52:

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”^{[a] 50} But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

This did not just ‘happen’ and he had all the wisdom of God in his heart and mind. Jesus had made it a priority to be about His Father’s business! Luke writes in verse 40 “There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom beyond his years, and God placed his special favor upon him.” So, he had been preparing for this time in the temple. He was keeping God first in all that he was doing.

I can hear it now…”Great, Ken! How in the world am I going to be able to be like Jesus? I mean, come on! He was perfect! There is no way I can live up to that!”

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

We have to press on and press into Jesus, learning from him and his life, and then applying those things to our lives. He is our example, so let’s follow it!

I. Time Alone With God: Matthew 6:33

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

 

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

“If a man wants to be used by God, he cannot spend all of his time with people.” – A. W. Tozer

“ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Again, this is not something that we can do on our own. It is only by us spending time with Him that we can be purified. Our time together as a church is important, but our alone time with God is even more important. It is in those times that He feeds and nourishes our souls, helping us to grow stronger in Him each and every day!

II. Being Laser Focused and Carrying Out God’s Plan

“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.
Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.
They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.
You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully.
Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!
Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands.
As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should!
I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me!”

“I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations.”

(*NIV says “set my heart on your laws”)

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. ¹⁵ But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

They were given a choice. We have the same. It may not be serving another little g god, but it might be a choice to serve ourselves with our wants and desires, or some other loud voice in the world that catches our attention.

It is still our choice!

Jesus had a choice! His focus was on what God wanted Him to do. He knew what that was by spending time with alone with Him, and then staying laser focused, knowing all along that it would ultimately mean His death on the cross. But it was not just the end. It would bring about a new beginning for all who accepted Him as their Lord and Savior! And He knew the message must be carried out afterwards. That is why He trained up the disciples.

III.  Intentional Training

“One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. ¹³ At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

Simon (whom he named Peter), Andrew (Peter’s brother), James, John, Philip,
Bartholomew,Matthew ,Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the zealot), Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

He spent the night in prayer before calling together all his followers/disciples to call apart those who would become His apostles, which means ‘sent forth’ or ‘commissioned for a particular errand”.

He then spent the next three years investing in these men. He discipled these men by telling them what He wanted them to do; showing them what He wanted them to do; sending them out in groups to do what He had told them to do and then coming back to report what had happened; then, after His death and resurrection, sending them out into all the world. And gave them the Holy Spirit to empower them.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

So what are we to do? Be like Jesus! He spent time alone with God, He was laser focused on doing what God wanted Him to do, and He intentionally trained others to do the same. He did not come in and find the most popular or influential people to carry out His plan. God had Him chose a ragamuffin group of people that most would have written off, and He trained them into a mighty group that was used by God to change the world!

Philippians 4:8-9

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

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