Quiet Times Search

Jesus had to overcome unfathomable temptation - Matthew 26:36-36

If he chose to follow through with his Father's will: humiliting insults, excruciating beatings, and agoninzing crucifixion would follow

Jesus: If it's possible, may this cup be taken from me
He knew what we needed to do
He struggled to get his heart where it needed to be
He prayed until he found strength he needed to overcome

We should ask ourselves: How many hours have I wrestled with it in prayer?
We cannot expect to withstand tempation if we are not ready to wrestle in prayer until God gives us the strength

We must turn to God at the moment we are tempted - it may take hours but we will have great power to resist sin

1. There is but one mediator between God and man - 1 Timothy 2:5
2. God sent Christ to reconcile sinful man back to Him - 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
3. This God did this by offering Christ as the sacrifice  for our sins - 1 John 4:9-10
4. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins - Ephesians 1:7
5. Jesus is the only way to God - John 14:6

• Such as those spoken in His sermon on the mount - Matthew 7:24-27
• Such as those later revealed through His apostles - John 16:12-13; 2 Peter 1:1-11

• His humility and service - Philiippians 2:3-8
• His perseverance - Hebrews 12:1-3
• His suffering - 1 Peter 2:21-25

• Matthew - 50x
• Mark - 15x
• Luke - 38x

a. Jesus taught with truth and compassion
b. Backup his teachings with his life

i. No man can come to except through me
ii. Do good to those who hate you
iii. Find your life by loosing it

c. Gives us a place to stand – embolden the disciples

a. Jesus was the foundation
b. Story did not end in Palestine

a. Died with Christ, now we can live a new life with him – Romans 6:4,5,8

Power

Mark 5:1-17

• What expectations do you have of your prayer life
• Do we believe the power that can be unleashed through your prayer life?
• We need to pray for God’s power to be clearly demonstrated – we desperately need the fear of the Lord.

Fearlessness

• Making the decision not give into fear is essential ingredient for the man or woman impact
• Two fears: fear of public speaking and the fear of failure

Spectacular Deeds

• Made front-page news.
• Jesus responded by valuing freeing a man over another property
• Jesus was willing to do something outrageous and controversial for the sake of a needy person

Retreats

Mark 9:30-32

• Sometimes the only way we can truly give ourselves to the few is by making ourselves unavailable to the many.
• Retreats are a change in routine to ponder perspective to help in our personal growth.

Openness

• Jesus was very open with his disciples about difficult challenges and troubles that lay ahead for him.
• Through his openness, Jesus led the way for his disciples to be open with each other.
• Hiding produces shallow relationships and weak bonding – leads to dissolution of the group
• Few are open with troubles to someone who has never been open to them.

Emotional Transformation

Mark 14:32-42

• Jesus’ friends provided him with absolutely no support at all during this spiritual struggle.
• All are overwhelmed with losses, failure, challenges, frustrations, by life
• If you are a leader, you cannot afford to be “down” for any significant length of time.
• The ability to make a quick and complete emotional turn-around is invaluable for the man or woman who wants to have an impact.

In touch with His feelings

• A person unfamiliar to their own emotional nature is a slave to it, while the person who is familiar with their weaknesses is in a position to master them.
• A spiritual man, through humility, has become acquainted with his own emotional self, and armed with that knowledge, has learned to turn his negative emotions around quickly.

Openness

• Most are either:
  • Stoics – feelings and burdens are locked away deep inside of them.
  • Cathartics – those who dump their feelings on anybody who will listen
• Jesus practiced complete openness without making others responsible for his feelings.
• Jesus leaned on his friends, but he did not dump on them.
• Premeditated openness is a key to fostering deep, meaningful relationships

Deliberation

• Too many of us would be unwilling to persevere through a long and difficult decision-making process.
• We must be willing to put in whatever effort is required to reach the best decision.

• Shadach, Meshach, and Abednego
• Pharaoh and his army
• David and Goliath Gideon’s army 

• Prostitutes
• Fisherman
• Tax collector

• Paradigm - describes the way that scientists work within a model for making sense of the world through observed data
• Shift/meta – changing one’s thoughts of the world
• Since paradigm shifts represents drastic changes to the rules of game – it is rarely done by scientists

• Man/earth was the center of the universe.
• As we found for planets, it was more complex to think the earth was the center
• Copernicus (1530) put the sun in the center – leading astronomers rejected the new paradigm

• Return to God – Deuteronomy 30:2
• Worship other Gods and you will perish - Deuteronomy 30:17-18

• We can not change what we can not see
• When was the last time you said the words, “I am wrong”?
• Ask someone close, “Am I blinded in any way by pride?”
• It was through pride, that the devil became the devil
• It is the complete anti-God state of mind.
• Why is Jesus so tough on Spiritual Blindness? It prevents us from seeing the good news.

• Survey of modern sermons would be salvation
• Jesus’ preaching was about the kingdom of God

• Old Way: “Treat … younger women as sister, with absolute purity”
• New Way: “…strength to comprehend with all the saint what is the breadth and length and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”

• Understands that he a citizen of the kingdom of heaven
• Jesus is Lord of the kingdom
• Jesus delivered him into the kingdom through his blood
• His sins placed him in Satan’s domain
• Live gratefully for Jesus rather than self
• Should anticipates the King’s glorious return
• Want no one to perish
• Should no fear man
• Only agenda is God’s agenda

1. What influences have shaped your worldview?
2. How has the world tried to squeeze your mind into its mold?
3. How can you resist – even reverse – this persistent pressure from the world?
4. Why should you “gird the loins of your mind”?
5. When and how did Saul/Paul repent?
6. What is the difference between a fleshly mind and a spiritual mind?
7. At a popular level, what is the difference between WWJD and WWJT?
8. Why are spiritual disciplines more effective after one has experienced the paradigm shift of metanoia?

• Many call press conferences to get there side of the story our first
• Once guilt is found, party than give a “heart-felt” apology – sorrow for getting caught
• Sin is destructive. It ruins relationships, reputation, peace of mind and personal integrity

• Some believe the abundance of tears is repentance
  • Forgiven women (forgiven)
  • Peter, Paul vs Cain (became angry)
  • Esau (wailed loudly)
  • Judas (deeply regretted)
• All three shed tear but not one repented
• Claiming to be a victim doesn’t make one a victim
• Tears can be self-affirming to one with self-pity (can become more sinful)
• Ones mostly likely to enable and least likely to help you

Conducts a search-and-destroy mission for every potential excuse for sin
Jesus drove out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts
Much easier to express indignation at some else’s sin or some points out our sin versus our own

Although God hates sin and not the sinner – still it is the sinner that goes to hell
Nothing focuses the mind like real fear

Through fear, we recognize that sin alienates us from God
We long to restore our fellowship with God
Without the acknowledgement of separation, there is no cause for longing
Fear sounds the alarm, but longing sets the course
No sin can stand against a soul who longs to return to God

• Love is the only way to win the free response of men
• Work of the Holy Spirit
  • Must be born again
  • Christ began His ministry by being baptized - John 3:3-9
  • Made clean through the Word and set apart to God for Holy Service - John 15:3
  • Only the Spirit can carry on the redemptive mission of evangelism
  • Jesus was God in revelation but the Spirit was God in operation
  • Evangelism was not a human undertaking but a divine project.
• With Him they felt that everything was possible
• The superhuman work to which they were called demanded superhuman help.
• Through confession of their deep-seated pride and enmity in utterly surrender of themselves to Christ
• It is not who we are but Who He us that makes the difference
• Only those who followed Jesus all the way came to know the glory of this experience
• Jesus was deliberately investing all He had in these few men so that they could be properly prepared to do His work.
• We cannot give something away which we do not possess ourselves.
• The very ability to give to give away our life in Christ is proof of its possession.

• Jesus considered their ability and taught them with patience
• At first, Jesus did not say anything about evangelizing the world
  • Showed them how to have a relationship with God
  • Showed them how He worked
  • Their need to follow
• He did not discourage spontaneous acts of faith
• Duties performed by His disciples
  • Baptized some - John 4:2
  • Food arrangements
• Jesus kept the vision in front of them
• Little evangelism was done on their own at the beginning
  • We should be patient with new disciples
• First evangelist mission with the 12
  • Began with Jesus’ third tour through Galilee
  • Sent them forth - Mark 6:7

• Jesus built into the disciples the structure of the church; Mustard seed - Matthew 13:32
• Jesus’ vision was for the church to be world-wide
• The church would have many trials and battles but would never be overcome - Matthew 16:18
• Peter finally realized what was going on - Matthew 16:18
• Must see the direct relation:
  • Bearing witness to Christ
  • Ultimate Victory over the world
• If the disciples did not evangelize, there would not be any Christians today.
• “Through the Word” – Others would believe in Him too. - John 17:20
• We must do what Jesus – He made disciples, we should walk as Jesus walked
• He taught His disciples to reproduce
• He had no other plan

• The Test
  •  Could His disciples do a good job without His bodily supervision as they could with it?
  •  Human point of view: Never could be sure that His investment in their lives.
•  Life-sustaining power of the vine was not to be given to endlessly upon lifeless branches
  •  A barren Christian is a contradiction.
  • A tree is known by its fruit
• Principle throughout His ministry
  • Reward of His own sacrifice for the world - John 12:24
  • Distinguishing work of those who did the will of His Father - Matthew 7:16-23
  • Wages given to His disciples for their work in the harvest - John 4:36
  • What was lacking in the Sadducees and Pharisees - Matthew 3:7-8

1. Not owning any property
2. So poor that you had to beg

1. Study the nature of God to develop more reverence before him'
2. Study biblical passages on meekness
3. Ask your closest relationships to help evaluate your humility
4. Pray about what you see in the Bible about meekness

• Some will run from it
• Other will try to put it out
• Still others will be drawn to it

• Prayed for the power to heal and to change others - Mark 9:29
• In prayer in order to be at peace with God's will - Matthew 26:36-46
• Struggled in prayer to be wholehearted submissive to his Father - Hebrews 5:7-8
• Prayed by himself - Matthew 14:23
• Prayed before others - John 11:41-43
• Prayed with his face to the ground - Matthew 26:39
• Prayed looking up to heaven - John 17:1
• Prayed standing up - Mark 11:25
• Prayed kneeling down - Luke 22:41
• Prayed in early in the morning - Mark 1:35
• Prayed throughout the night - Luke 6:12

• If you pray
• Please, I beg you to pray
• I command you to pray

1. Our Father in heaven - Set our minds on personal and intimate relationship we have with our God
2. Hallowed be your name  - Praise and honor him
3. Your Kingdom come  - Pray for his church, disciples, leaders, people whom the gospel has not reached
4. Your will be done - Pray for a submissive heart toward will of God in our lives
5. Give us this day our daily bread - Pray through today's schedule, needs, relying on God
6. Forgive us our debts - Confess specific sin
7. As we also have forgiven our debtors - Commit before God to resolve conflict, hurts, concerns in all relationships
8. Lead us not into temptation - Wrestle with God to be submissive and repentant in areas of weakness
9. Deliver us from the evil one - Pray that God to stop Satan and than God for victories in him

What occupies my mind?
What concerns me?
When I think of security, is my focus on God or money?

If we are eager and driven to gain more we will stray from the faith and be pierced with many griefs - 1 Timothy 6:10

Secret to being content, I can do everything through him that gives me strength - Philippians 4:12-13

Judas: example of someone trying to live with 2 masters:

• Expressed concern for a waste of money that could have gone to the poor - John 12:4-6
• The hold money had on Judas' heart eventually led to his betrayal of Jesus

• Children blame parents
• Spouses blame each other
• Employees blame employers
• Society blame political administration
• Present political administration blame previous one

• Seldom confess
• Confess only when there is a "big" sin
• Consistently confess sin
• Am open even about temptations

• Decision to stay humble - Luke 18:17
• Decision against materialism - Luke 18:24-25
• Decision to persevere through hardships - Acts 14:22
• Decision to stand firm in our convictions - Luke 21:12-19
• Decision to believe and obey God whatever the circumstances - Hebrews 3:5-19

• Race
• Money
• Gender
• Culture
• Distance
• Too busy

• Past hurts
• Bitterness
• Sin - yours, mine or others

• First converts - Lydia and her household
• The jailer and his house hold
• God using an earthquake to bring unlikely people into the kingdom of God - Acts 16:22

• Their growth - he would pay the cost
• Patient with someone who was weak - he would pay the cost
• Someone taking advantage of his humility - he would pay the cost
• Was through sticky, uncomfortable issues - he would pay the cost

Jesus Christ is Lord
Everyone who lived will say these four words - Philippians 2:9-11

Whoever disowns Jesus before men, he will disown him - Matthew 10:32-33

No one comes to the Father except through Jesus - John 14:6

Give up for God = Gain
Lose for God = FInd
Bow before God now = stand

Bow when:

• You naturally want to be selfish
• You want your needs meet
• You doubt his love

Each disciple must decide that he or she lives among other "for their sake" - 1 Thessalonians 1:5

Although is righteousness that is not our own becomes laziness, we show we have the grace of God - Philippians 3:12-16

Despite all that Paul went through and has done - he pressed on
Greek word, dicoko = used in both hunting and foot racing

There is certainly a time to remember what we have done - 2 Thessalonians 2:5
But there is also a time to forget

Paul did not cling to the fact that he planted a lot of churches
He purposely "forgot", so he would not see himself as arriving

Paul was looking forward to the next thing God had in store for him
All who are mature, should think this way

The way to take it higher is to hold on to what you have already grasped and then reach for more

• Listening to Christ everyday
• Holding on to his faith in the fiery trails
• Slowly and painfully

Friendship in Christ

Galatians 3:26-29

• We are all in Christ
• There is no different: race, martial status, money you make, area you live in

Friendship like Christ

John 13:34-35 - You must love one another like Christ (even when you do not want to)

Matthew 26:50 - First word Jesus said to Judas as he was betraying him was "Friend, ..."

Revelation 3:19 - Jesus corrected those he loved (We must correct those we love)

Friendship for Christ

Ephesians 5:21

• Our motivation for submitting to each other - reverence for Christ
• How can we tolerate others? our reverence for Christ

Friendship through Christ

Philippians 4:13 - We can do anything with our friend, Jesus Christ

• Paul had an encounter with Jesus
  • Encounters with Jesus are significant
  • Paul understood he was living in opposition to Jesus - killing Christians (people following Christ)
    
  • Don't want to be on the opposite side of the battle from God
  • Where are you at today? Do you know?
  • Share
    • Grow up religious - Every Sunday - through High School
      
    • Ask to come to church, study the Bible
    • Saw life and heart wasn't matching; my sin was in opposition to God
    • Tried to make it personal - mean and angry (Hoping the standard would changed)
    • They were there to help
• Paul had the humility to ask "What shall I do?" - v10
  • Paul had a heart of humility to be taught - Bible
    
  • Could have brought up his religiousness or accomplishments
  • Opened himself up to anything, Not "I'm sorry, won't do that again"
    
• Paul was religious all this life and had the heart to immediately obey and be baptized - v16
  • Perhaps, God uses the life of Paul to prepare our hearts for surrender
    
  • What have you been holding on to instead of Jesus? What is stopping you?

1 Kings 19:1

• Travels 150 miles to get way from Jezebel
  • It is amazing how far we get away
• Lost gratitude
• God doesn't give up
  • He sends angels
• How to get back our spiritual compassion?
  • Go back!
  • Don't run from your fear
  • Don't just go through the motions
  • We are to face ourselves

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

2 Corinthians 7:2-13

• Challenges are need
• They produce more reliance and faith in God

Renew Your Spiritual Passion for the Lost

Mark 5:6-11

• Jesus saw their pain and their lostness
  • Broken marriages
  • Cannot control their children
• We need to get into their lives
• The will open up with your help

• Beauty
• Affliction

Zealot = a man who aims at overthrows

Jesus mission was to overthrow Satan's ruling government over the earth

1 John 3:7-8
• Jesus came to destroy Satan
• A zealot has a cause
• What was Jesus' cause?
  • Save man from hell
  • Save man from himself
  • Save man from Satan
Matthew 26:50-55
• They saw Jesus as a renigade

Cause worth living for

Luke 9:25
• What good is it?
• What would you write down as things that you are trying to gain?
• Living for Jesus is living life to the full

Luke 10:10
• Sometimes life is not fair
  • Through salvation (Judgement) comes fairness
• We hurt ourselves with the question "WHY?"
  • Like we can demand an answer from God
2 Corinthians 5:14
• Love compels us not out of duty

Cause with fighting for

John 18:36

• Who have you been fighting?
  • The battle isn't the person in front of you
• If we are not fighting for our faith then something is wrong.

2 Timothy 4:7

• Fight for your faith:
  • Fight for Quiet Times
  • Fight for Reaching Out
  • Fight for Purity
  • Fight for Self Discipline

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

• Not with machine guns or cannons
• Fighting through prayer and studying the Word
  • Destroys arguments

To overthrow Satan in your life...You must first be a Zealot of God.

• Jesus spoke the truth without concern for opposition
•  What do you need to say to who?

• Jesus stood up for people
• Who do you need to stand up for?

• Jesus felt other's pain
•  People have more pain their lives than you think
•  Who needs your help?

• Throughout all our trials, Jesus kept going
• What could stop you?

Too many of us have placed eternity somewhere out there
We seem to forget that we will get the earth back as well

I will create new heavens and a new earth - Revelation 21:1
When he says he is making all things new, he includes the earth

Won't the whole earth be destroyed?
That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat - 2 Peter 3:12

Noah's day of the Lord
By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed - 2 Peter 3:6
World was destroyed in the sense that all wickedness and corruption of mankind - Genesis 6-7
Fire is also used for cleansing throughout the Scriptures

As a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert - Jeremiah 2:2-3

If you're writing a romanc, love is the goal - you must allow for the possiblity of betrayal
This is what God call us our turning away from him

Hebrews thought God would be satisfied with some religious rituals and rule keeping

You said, "I will not serve you!" - Jeremiah 2:20
You have forgotten me and trusted in false gods - Jeremiah 13:25-27

True love never fails
God will fight for his beloved

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her - Hosea 2:14

• God goes to war to set his people free in Exodus
• War to get to the promise land - Exodus 17:16
• War to get into the promise land - battle of Jericho
• Wars to keep the promise land - battles with Canannites, Philistines, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Midianites
• Deborah, Gideon, David, Elijah goes to war

• Neo does in Matrix
• Maximus does in Gladiator
• Wallance does in Braveheart

• Wanted choice seat to the right and left of Jesus
• Wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy a village

• Do not rush the field - Luke 14:31
• Train yourself to discern good from evil - Hebrews 5:14
• Live as through your life is at stake - Matthew 10:16

• Against "wisdom", the disciples were asked to go Saul, the one who used to murder Christians, and lay his hands on him - Acts 9:13-14
• Would you counsel a father to sacrifice his only child?
• Take on a fortified city by slashing your ranks from 32,000 to 300?
• Jesus to give himself up to the authorities and let himself get killed

The heart of our enemy: determined to hinder and harm and ruin God's image bearers

God is serious about life - Isaiah 45:2-3

• He will level the mountains
• Break down the gates of bronze
• Cut through the bars of darkness
• Give us hidden treasures

• Bind up the brokenhearted
• Proclaim freedom for the captives
• Release from darkness for the prisoners

What is the hidden treasure? Our hearts
Our hearts are not darkness but hidden by darkness

• Little Red Riding Hood - wolf
• Dorthy - Wicked Witch of the West
• Neo - powerful agents

• Satan incited David to take a census of Israel - 1 Chronicles 21:1
• To Peter: "Get behind me Satan" - Matthew 16:21-23

Some trying to "work through" things are simply have agreements with the Enemy
Do you really think the source of that is just you? or God?

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry - Ephesians 4:26-27
Not just anger  - it happens through all sorts of issues

Satan uses your wounds and unresolved emotional issues to pin your heart down under a spiritual stronghold
Wounds we take are not accidential

We must be careful not to make agreements with Satan to increase his dominion

• Broke bread in their homes and ate together - Acts 2:46
• The church meet in houses - 1 Corinthians 16:19
• House church at Nymph's house - Colossians 4:15

There are expectations everywhere, to have:

• Strong marriages
• Obedient children
• Balanced budgets
• Ethical business
• Effective prayer lives
• Meaningful relationships

Many times the "ought to" comes through louder than the "how to"
Especially true in the challenge of having an evangelist impact
God did not leave us in a state of confusion - What God expects, He enables

We need to focus on the important steps to have maximum impact
HP (High Potency) + CP (Close Proximity) + CC (Clear Communication)  = Maximum Impact (MI)

We are the salt of the world - Matthew 5:13

• Salt makes us thristy
• It spices things us
• It preserves - holds back decay

Which did Jesus have in mind? We don't know
HP (High Potency) = means we need to have a strong concentration of Christ's influnce in our lives
CP (Close Proximity) = means we need to get close to people we're hoping to reach in order to allow His power to have its intended effect

• Be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor - Deuteronomy 15:11
• Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me - Matthew 25:40
• All I ask is that you remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do - Galatians 2:10

1. Yourself - 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
   1. We need to be financially independent in the sense that we take care of our own. As adults we should not be dependent on parents, family, friends, or the church except in rare instances.
   2. Non-Christians do not respect people who do not carry their weight financially. We hinder the spread of the Gospel if we are irresponsible with our finances.
2. Family - 1 Timothy 5:4-8
   1. Taking care of our family is one of the most basic responsibilities we have. If we fail, we deny the faith.
   2. Responsibility includes at least parents, grandparents, spouse, children, 7 brothers and sisters.
   3. It is right for us to repay our parents and grandparents.
3. Government - Romans 13:1-7
   1. We need to support the government through the payment of taxes.
   2. We pay not according to what we can get away with but what is right to pay.
4. The Church - 1 Cor 16:1-2
   1. Each one has the responsibility to take care of the church financially.
   2. Set aside on the first day of every week.
   3. Plan and save for special contributions.
5. The Poor - Luke 12:33; James 1:27

1. In which of the above areas am I not fulfilling my responsibilities?

• "How is it going?" then ask how is it going
• "I'm curious, do you ever think about spiritual matters?"
• "Who, in your opinion, is Jesus Christ?"
• "What is your spiritual background?"
• "Do you ever wonder what happens to us when we die?"
• "What do you think a real Christian is?"
• "Where are you heading in your spiritual journey?"

• Money
• Relationships
• Control over resources

• God is love but he also just and holy
• There is no sin that can go unpunished
• This the parents dilemma - should I punish or let it go?
• God can not let anything go because of his nature
• We do not have to have all the answers - not our "wisdom" but God's wisdom

• In him all things hold together
• How God can be just and for us to have salvation because of the blood of Jesus
• It all comes through Jesus Christ

1. Age 4 - Going potty
2. Age 12 - Having friends
3. Age 17 - Having a car
4. Age 35, 45, 55, 65 - Having Money
5. Age 75 - Having a car
6. Age 80 - Having friends
7. Age 85 - Go potty

• Deversity in the church
• Strong Marriage
• Unity

• Acceptance
• Future
• What others think

• He made us
• We matter to God
• He wants to have a relationship with us
• We rebelled against God
• Our sins separate us from Him
• Attempts to reach Him fall short - Romans 3:23
• Our sins desire death - Romans 6:23
• There is much trouble apart from God - people need to understand their lostness
• Christ died so we have relationship restored - 1 Peter 3:18

• Stepped of the boat, only to sink - Matthew 14:31
• Rebuked for his dullness - Matthew 15:15-16
• Rebuked Jesus and got the rebuke of a lifetime - Matthew 16:22-23
• Fell asleep when Jesus needed him most - Matthew 26:40
• Denied knowing Jesus three times and wept bitterly - Matthew 26:75

John 1:18

• Jesus has made God known.
  
• Where do we begin our search for God? We begin by getting to know Jesus.
  
• To the degree that we know Jesus, we will know God.

John 20:30-31

• The Word of God produces faith in Jesus.
• What will we find if we seek God by coming to know Jesus through God’s Word? Finding God begins with coming to faith in Jesus
  which promises true life now and eternal life later!
• As we take a closer look at Jesus, are you willing to make a heartfelt effort to draw closer to God by praying and reading the Bible?