Quiet Times Search

Upon hearing about the death of his close friend Lazarus, Jesus wept...

Jesus really felt the emotions that we feel
He fully divine and fully human at the same time
He knows what it is like to experience loss, pain, hurt, and fatigue

Why did he cry? Scripture does not say. Could be because:

• He felt the hurt of Mary and Martha
• He was expressing the hurt of the loss of his friend
• He was antipating his own death

Who are your deepest relationships in the church?

• God has pledged to save us for all eternity - Revelation 21:1-7
• Forgive our sins - 1 John 1:5-2:2
• Provide us with all we need for life and godliness - 2 Peter 1:3-4
• Give us great friends and huge spiritual family - Mark 10:29-31
• Show us a way out when tempted - 1 Corinthians 10:13
• Comfort us in our troubles - 1 Corinthians 1:3-7
• Equip us for any challenge, any work, any time - 2 Timothy 2:20-21

1. Knows us better than we ourselves
2. Even as the manufacturer knows his product better than anyone else
3. Knows our weaknesses and our strengths
4. Is the best source to find the answers to such questions as:

a.  Where did I come from?
b.  Why am I here?
c.  Where am I going?
d.  How should I live?

Not like any other prophet, priest, or preacher

There were others that were close to him (Stalin…)

• Not only one to be called to preach - ...“so I can preach there also. That is why I have come” - Mark 1:38
• “Only in his hometown…is a prophet without honor” - Mark 6:1-5

• Thought of bringing legions of angel - Matthew 26:54
• Why have you forsaken me? - Mark 15:34
• Into your hands I commit my spirit - Luke 23:46

• New priorities – with people who have different ones
• New loyalties – with people who have different ones
• Mission is to reachout and share with people why they need his message
• Associate with sinners but call them change
• Love unconditionally; Live radically – declare this is the way to live

a. Choose to pray for other first
b. Living what he preached – Pray for your enemies

a. He wanted to make sure other were taken care of before he left

a. Show he was generous with the undeserving
b. Similar to the parable about the servants being paid the same with different lengths of service

a. Felt his need for God and separation from him

a. Jesus was aware of his limitation
b. Hebrews 4:15-16 – Jesus can sympathize with our pain

a. Foundation of his work was finished
b. Some thought this was the end of his ministry

a. Conforms Jesus unswerving commitment

Abandon

Mark 2:6-12

• Jesus didn’t walk on eggshells when he was around those who opposed him.
• We are often so careful not to offend anyone that no frankness and no power is left our speech.
• We need to be constantly ready to withstand opposition

Selfless Authority

• People who seem apologetic about authority they have or hesitate to exercise it are not very impressive
• Reason: they see it as a means of gaining something for themselves for themselves rather than a means of achieving a goal
• People that abuse power act the same way as those who do not use
• Pilate failed because he did not understand why he was in power
• We should not hesitate to make use of this authority and we should be unashamed
• How can disciples of Jesus not be bold and assertive? We must be forceful people!

Assertiveness

Mark 5:35-43

• He took charge of the situation and his surrounds
• Why have we not acted as Jesus did?

Fear Sensitivity

• Jesus didn’t say a word to those who doubted
• Assertiveness without sensitivity can be offensive and counterproductive

A Simple charge

• “Don’t be afraid, just believe”
• He didn’t burden him with lots of words
• Excessive amount of teaching may cloud the main issue

Privileging

• Peter, James, and John were closest to Jesus
• Jesus narrowed his focus to help the build leaders to their full potential.

Consideration

• A little consideration can go a long ways
• Ideas: buy someone lunch, remember people’s birthdays
• Be alert to meeting other people’s needs

Magnetism

Mark 9:14-29

• Why? Magnetism came from only prayer.
• Magnetism: an attracting force on the level of the soul, which produces deep bonding and enduring loyalty.

Frustration

• Jesus expressed frustration regarding the continuing unbelief of the people.
• Closest disciples even needed him the bolster their faith.
• He was frustrated because their unbelief blocked the power of God.
• Jesus did not lock his frustration up inside.
• Dealing with frustration – stuffer = out of mind; slammers = fly off the handle – neither are good

• He was furious about the fruitfulness of another “tree” that he had planted, watered, weeded, fertilized.
• Jesus cleared the temple at the beginning of His ministry and also here at the end of His of His ministry
• There was no fear of God.
  

• Jesus knew the right place and the right time the do the things needed.
• He was disciplined and self-controlled for just the right time.
  

• What made Jesus angry was the stubborn refusal of most to change.
• A willingness to change is a precious and seemingly rare behavioral characteristic.
• Become exceedingly insecure and defensive when we are awakened to the existence of personal deficiencies.
• We must also get angry about obstinacy in our own lives and other people’s lives.

• Why didn’t anyone try to stop Jesus as he was taking over the temple? (Only one person and many of them)
• They knew that they were in the wrong.
• Teachers of the law and chief priests feared Jesus
  
• If people consider you a “nice guy” and are not in awe of you, you probably won’t have much impact.

1. No battle to fight
   
2. No swords and castles
3. Without a great battle in which a man live and die - fierce part goes underground

• We doubt very much that we have and real strength to offer
•  If we did offer what we have it wouldn’t be good enough

• physical contact
• sandpaper of my whiskers
• to test their fathers

• We do not know how to initiate boys into men
• We are not sure we really want to

• slavery stopped
• Nazis were stopped
• Who gave up their seats on the Titanic?

Conviction and Acceptance

How we blend conviction with an equally deep level of acceptance?

We need to understand that some convictions can be disputable matters
Paul does not get into a discussion what is right and wrong

Accept those whose faith is weak - Romans 14:1

Accept one another in order to bring praise to God - Romans 15:7

Example: It is OK to treat one day more special to worship God than another day - Romans 14:5-6

Even if the conviction is misguided - we sin if go against it

Great questions in these verses:

• Who are you to judge some else's servant? - Romans 14:4
  
• Why do you judge your brother? - Romans 14:10
• Why do you look down on your brother? - Romans 14:10

• No "I'm right" or "Your wrong" on that day
• Rightness will be perfectly obvious to all

• We know in our guts that it won’t be good enough
• No matter how much you pour into her she will never be filled

• Refuse to give what they have
• Keep pouring and pouring until we feel like a failure

1. Badger him - Why don’t you stand up and be a man?
2. Whine about it - Hurry up and marry me!!
3. Emasculate him - I thought you were a real man
4. Inspire and energize him

• Sermons are boring
• Members are unfriendly to visitors
• Wonder about the quality of the nursery care
• Church seems to more concerned about my wallet
• Music isn’t very upbeat

1. Have you made a recent decision to change something in your life?
2. Why is it more comfortable to make changes on your own terms? What changes do you seek to make?
3. How well do you respond to reproof – from the Bible and from fellow Christians?
4. Have you ever changed a fellowship, that is, church membership, to avoid a call to repentance?

• a complete change of attitude, spiritual and moral, toward God
• a change of mind
• to change one’s way of life
• to change one’s mind or purpose

• How did both John and Jesus begin their public ministry of preaching?
• What does the prefix meta- (from metanoia) mean? What other English words do you know that have meta- as a prefix?
• What does the root nous (from metanoia) mean? What other English words do you know that contain –noia?
• Have you ever considered your worldview? How has the Bible shaped it?
• Why is metanoia necessary for us to grasp the kingdom of God?
• How has the Latin idea of paenitentia influenced your understanding of repentance?
• Why is the author concerned with “repentance” as our English translation for metanoia?

• The great love for surveys and polls
• We can not repent if we do not know that we have drifted – It takes a prophet of God
• See how different the prophets in your life live.

• Metanoia happens internally, fruit happens externally
• Sometimes we say, “You need to repent” – which may have meant “get it together” (a heart bypass)
• Becomes “need to” instead of “want to”
• It is easier to disciple the behavior than it is to address the mind and heart
• Consider things above – instead of considering behavior, consider the kingdom of God
• Metanoia is no technique; it’s an inside-out transformation

1. How have you broken your covenant with God?
2. Are scriptures sufficient for your repentance?
3. Do you agree with the author’s assertions that repentance isn’t something we do in order to return to God, it is our return to Him? Why or Why not?
4. How does fear play a positive role in our repentance?
5. Do your standards for morality reflect a biblical standard or simply a modern one?
6. Why do prophets go after the leaders of a society?
7. How does metanoia differ from the fruit of metanoia? How does this distinction help you repent?

• 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

• Alternative to repentance is rejection of God
• If we don’t repent, we will perish
• We are not asked to analyze our mental orientation but to see fruit from our repentance

1. What causes spiritual blindness? Why is it so hard to see our own pride?
2. Why is Jesus so tough on spiritual blindness?
3. Earlier we discussed worldviews, how does a Kingdom view compare and contrast with your current worldview?
4. Why is the arrival of the Kingdom cause for metanoia?
5. What is Jesus’ purpose for teaching via parables?
6. What can we learn about metanoia from Jesus’ description of the Prodigal Son?
7. Why – according to Jesus’ teaching - will we perish if we don’t repent?
8. How can we be sure of our repentance?

• Students – pass/fail
• Employees – promotions\get fired
• Calories – lose/gain weight

• None of delight in a highlight reel of our personal sinfulness (especially avoid reference to specific sins)
• Whenever we expose our sins in the light of fellowship – able to see our sin more clearly

1. How can grace compel repentance?
2. How can you assess your debt to Jesus?
3. How can you be assured of the forgiveness of that debt?
4. Who is to blame for Christ’s death on the Cross?
5. How does one’s good confession - “Jesus is Lord!” - express one’s repentance?
6. Why is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ a clear indication of one’s repentance?

• 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?

• Comes up with creative targets – upbringing, genetic makeup, society
• Excuses are the clearest indicators of worldly sorrow
• Excuses come right after the apology – I am sorry for forgetting our anniversary, it has been crazy at work
• Where there is an excuse, there is persistent sin
• Excuses rob us of the indignation that energizes our turn from self to Jesus

A repentant Christian embraces absolutions, even moral absolutes

Repentance is no fragile state of mind that we barely notice entering and exiting

1. What is wrong with defining repentance as “being sorry for your sins, so sorry that you stop them”?
2. What is the root cause of worldly sorrow?
3. In what ways have you exercised “damage control” rather than true repentance?
4. What damage has your sin caused?
5. Have you ever confused the tears of self pity for true repentance? What is the danger of this confusion?
6. Why does the author assert that “excuses are the clearest indicators of worldly sorrow?” Would you rather have your excuses accepted or your sins forgiven?
7. What’s the difference between cognitive dissonance and repentance? Why doesn’t cognitive dissonance prompt us to preach the good news to others?
8. Have you been selective in your repentance? What does that indicate about your repentance?
9. Why doesn’t metanoia accommodate the repetition of sin?

Zeal reject the “whatever…” attitude as it determines to do “Whatever to takes!”
Lack of surrender robs zeal
Completely denying all we are, path to God becomes clear and passionate

1. Does Sandi’s story convict you about an unresolved sin in your life? If so, what should you do?
2. What are some Biblical examples of individuals who exhibit godly sorrow? What are some Biblical examples of groups who exhibit godly sorrow?
3. Consider William Law’s assertion that our “sins are due to the fact that we do not intend to please God in all the actions of our lives.” Is this true for you? How does godly sorrow reverse this condition?
4. Why does sin require confession? Is confession only before God? To whom have you confessed sins besides God?
5. What does a short list indicate?
6. Do you believe Proverbs 28:13? Do you practice it? Why or why not?
7. How does indignation promote repentance? When were you last indignant over sin?
8. How does “fear” promote repentance? How does it work together with “longing” to produce repentance?
9. Has anyone ever marveled at your zeal to repent – why or why not?
10. Are you ready to completely the avenge the wrong caused by sin and self? What next steps will you take?

Means to show someone his sin and to summon him to repentance; bring light, expose set forth
More than just showing faults (easy)
Sets out to prove the offense to the blinded offender
Laodicean – I know your deeds, church became blinded
Exposing the church resented a gate to enter repentance

• To give repentance – Acts 5:30-31
• God granted repentance – Acts 11:11-18
• God will grant the repentance – 2 Timothy 2:24-26

1. What is the value of the gift of elegcho (pronounced “elencho”)?
2. What methods has the Holy Spirit used to convict you? Which has been most effective at producing repentance? Which methods have you most tried to avoid?
3. How have you tried to avoid reproof from fellow Christians?
4. According to Revelation 3:19, why does Jesus reprove us? What response does He desire from us?
5. How can a person dead in sin repent and believe?
6. How does God grant repentance?
7. Look back over the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus (see chapters 4 and 5); list examples of how they reproved their hearers in order to bring them to repentance.
8. Why is repentance impossible without God?

1. How does the church represent the “destination of repentance”?
2. How did the early church help sinners to repent? How did it safeguard true repentance from compromise?
3. How did the walls of the early church stand steadfast against the assaults of the world?
4. What does it mean to be of “one mind” with your brothers and sisters?
5. How were early Christians both non-conformists and conformists?
6. Why has church discipline gotten a “bad rap”? Is it warranted?
7. Why do so few churches practice the Biblical mandates to discipline its members?
8. How can a church best practice church discipline?
9. Have you ever been disciplined by your church? Did God’s plan lead you to repentance – why or why not?
10. Over 85% of the Biblical references to repentance address groups rather than individuals. Thus, how can you help your fellowship - at various levels – repent?
11. How can you spark repentance – even revival – in your church and in your community? Are you willing to walk its path of selfless commitment?

V9 – why have you despised the word of the lord?
V10 – you have despised me [God]
V12 – You did it secretly
V14 – You have utterly scorned the Lord

1. How can you make the same journey as David – from repulsive to repentant?
2. How does repentance differ between the lost turning to God and the saved re-turning to Him? How is it the same?
3. How do qualify for God’s love and grace (see page 201)?
4. If you have not yet repented, why are you without excuse before God?
5. What will specifically change in your life when you proclaim, “Jesus is Lord!”?
6. If you have repented, have you also been forgiven of your sins – if not, what are you waiting for (see Acts 22:16)?
7. What can make post-baptismal repentance more difficult than your initial repentance?
8. What role does shame play in obstructing your repentance?
9. What is fellowship in the light vs. fellowship in the darkness? Which have you most often experienced in your church?
10. Finally, to the “confused”: take time to consider and answer the questions on pages 207 and 208. How can you thwart Satan’s attempts to undermine your path to true repentance?
11. Who can you encourage today with the good news of your repentance?
12. Who can you reach for Jesus by “telling how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5: 19)?

• Little more than 500 after the resurrection - 1 Corinthians 15:6
• 120 received baptism at the day of Pentecost - Acts 1:15

• Why not an army?
• He needed leaders to lead the ministry after He left. Not all followers. It takes energy to produce a leader.
• Not trying to impress the crowd but the usher in a Kingdom
• Mass are like helpless sheep wandering aimlessly without a shepherds
• Masses willing to follow anyone that came along with some promise for their welfare
• Jesus was a realist. He knew he could not meet all the needs on His own.

• We are not even keeping with the growing population
• We in an age where more rapid communication is now being seen than ever before
• Must not be frantic to try to change the pattern overnight
• Do like Jesus – start with a few lowly disciples and do as it was done by Jesus
  • Slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed at first
  • Not spiritual “junk-food” revivals
• Which generation are you living for?

• Sending of the Seventy - Luke 10:1
  • Almost the same instructions - Luke 10:2-16
  • They would be forerunners (Luke 10:1)
• Post Resurrection
  • Peter: Feed my sheep - John 21:15-17
  • I send you - John 20:21
  • Great Commission - Matthew 28:16-20
  • Repent and remission of sins - Luke 24:47-49
• Evangelism is not an option (Jesus was all about – heartbeat of why he lived)
• Tangible expression by those who are following the Savior
• He gave work assignments (made sure they carried them out)
• At first assignments started small, but grew gradually until the graduation (started the church that turned the world upside down)

• Why was she picked to give birth to the Savior?
• She already knew how much she needed God as her savior
• Already in a humble state before him - Luke 1:46-55

• Took a jolt on the way to Damascus
• He finally came to see his poverty of spirit
  • Nothing good lives in me - Romans 7:18
    
  • I am the least of the apostles - 1 Corinthians 15:9-10
  • Confessed his poverty to the very end - 1 Timothy 1:12-15

• ignore it
• postpone it

• Choose God over self
• Realize we have broken his heart
• Our response is to be broken, vulnerable, contrite, and humble
• No other response makes sense or brings healing

• What can I learn from this problem?
• What is your will for my life?
• What can I change that will make his/her life and our marriage better?

• We think we are not worthy
• Our faith is weak
• We don't know what we want - we need to dream

Paul urges them to be anxious and worried about nothing and to pray about everything because God is in control - Philippians 4:6-7

Peace never comes without surrender
Surrender never comes without a decision to trust

Something instead of dealing with our emotions, we try an avoidance pattern
Adam and Eve hid from God and themselves

We must be in touch with happens to others and ourselves
It is why we must consistently and unashamedly pray about all aspects of our lives
It is not just for some - it is normal experience - just people deciding to trust God in every situation

Guard (a garrison of angel are available to help) our hearts - Satan wants us to trust ourselves and to doubt our God
Our own thoughts are not always the truth

How challenging to turn everything over to God. Yet, how foolish not to!