Preparing Our Hearts : Examination-Capitulation-Exaltation

PREPARING OUR HEARTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR : EXAMINATION-CAPITULATION-EXALTATION

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OUTLINE

1. EXAMINATION

2. CAPITULATION

3. EXALTATION

THE MESSAGE

PREPARING OUR HEARTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR : EXAMINATION-CAPITULATION-EXALTATION

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1. EXAMINATION

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Trials and Tribulations are testings and examinations that reveal and expose the true condition of our heart. The Lord tested the Israelities in the wilderness to know what was in their heart and to see whether or not they would keep His commandments. It is in the time of testings that our strength is revealed. Often we are not aware of all that is hidden in our heart. Only when we allow the Lord to search and examine our hearts , all our hidden impurities will be exposed. Peter did not realise that he was about to deny the Lord Jesus. He thought he was ready to go to prison or even die for Jesus. The church at Laodicea did not realise that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Instead they thought they were wealthy and did not need anything. We need to allow the Lord to examine our hearts to reveal our true condition . The Lord uses trials and testings to reveal what is hidden in our hearts.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

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DEUTERONOMY 8:2

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

PROVERBS 24:10

If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!

JEREMIAH 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. who can understand it?

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

PSALM 139:23-24

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

LUKE 22:33-34

But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

REVELATION 3:17

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

2. CAPITULATION

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Trials and tribulations reveal whether we are submitted to the will of God. The Lord is the potter and we are the clay in his hands. He will form us into a vessel according to His will. We should not question His will for us nor compare ourselves with others. When the Lord chooses to deny our requests which are not according to His will , we should not rebel against the Lord or become bitter against Him. We must capitulate and surrender to His will. The Lord Jesus surrendered to the will of God and accepted the sufferings of the cross even though humanly he wished that he could be spared that suffering. God sent His angel to strengthen Him to face that suffering. The Apostle Paul accepted the will of God when his request for the thorn in his flesh to be removed was denied. But he received the grace of God and strength of the Lord to endure that thorn. The Apostle Paul had laboured much for the Lord and suffered so much for the Kingdom of God and received so many divine revelations .Yet his request was denied. But he did not become bitter against God for not granting his request. He capitulated to the will of God cheerfully and accepted His grace.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

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JEREMIAH 18:1-6

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”

So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Then the word of the LORD came to me.

He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

ROMANS 9:20-21

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?