RENEWING YOUR PASSION FOR LIFE
“Shaken Faith And Shattered Hope”
Part 1
Today we start a series of messages entitled, “Renewing Your Passion For Life.” Jesus’ passion caused Him to go to the cross. Jesus had a passion that caused Him to leave heaven; it caused Him to come to this earth. He had a passion for you and for me. And you and I are supposed to live life with passion. God wants us to have a passion for everything that we do especially a passion for Him.
And many times we loose our passion for living. We begin our careers and we have a passion for our career. We want to do our very best, we want to make it to the top, we want to be the best, we want to achieve, we want to do all that we can but somewhere along the way, we loose that passion. And we find ourselves just barely getting by, just doing the minimum, and just doing the least that we can.
Sometimes we loose our passion for marriage. We find ourselves in our marriage not passionate, as we were when we first got married, we had that honeymoon love, we had that spark, and we had that passion in our marriage. We could not wait to see our spouse when we got home at the end of the day, we couldn’t wait to be with them but we lost our passion for our marriage.
But you know that passion can be restored. Many times we loose our passion for Christ as believers. When we first became Christians we had a passion for Christ. We couldn’t wait to serve Christ, we could do enough for Christ, and we could spend enough time with Christ. We wanted to pray, we wanted to teach a Sunday School class, we wanted to be in the word of God, but you know now we have lost that passion. No longer do we want to do those things and now we just sort of go through the motions of serving Christ. We come on Sunday morning but there is really no feeling in it, there is no fire in it, there is no passion in it, we just sort of do our duty and go through the motions. But it is really dull and monotonous and there is nothing really passionate about it. And you know, that is not very much fun. We really don’t like living life that way, but there is just something about life, there is something about things that happen to us in life as we go on our way that steals passion from us.
So I am going to be talking about restoring your passion for life. Now today in Luke 24 we find two disciples who had lost their passion. In fact they had “Shaken Faith and Shattered Hope.” They were followers of Jesus. These disciples had seen the miracles of Christ, they had great faith in Christ, they had committed their lives to Him, they believe He was the Messiah, they believed He was going to deliver Israel from the Roman yoke, they believed He was going to bring in the kingdom of God, they saw Him raise the dead and open the eyes of the blind and straighten the lame limbs. They saw Him do all sorts of marvelous things, but now Jesus had been crucified and they lost their passion.
Luke 24:13-17 “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?”
Now this is after the resurrection and Jesus joins Himself to their conversation but they don’t know it is Jesus. Maybe their eyes are filled with tears, maybe they are walking along and looking down at the ground because they are so downcast and sad, but any rate, they don’t recognize that it is Jesus.
Luke 24:18-21 “And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.”
Luke 24:28-32 “And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
In other words, their passion was restored. Did not our heart burn within us? I want to tell you, that is what we need as Christians today, we need burning hearts, and we need a fire lit in our souls for Jesus Christ. And that is what we need in our job that is what we need in our daily lives. We need burning hearts. We need hearts that are afire and ablaze. We need a passion for living because you see, that is what is behind every great life. Behind all great art, great literature, great music is someone whose heart is afire with passion. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion energizes life. Passion is that which keeps life from being monotonous and boring. Now the dictionary says that passion is an intense emotion, it is a strong feeling, a great devotion, and an intense conviction, which fuels and motivates us toward compelling action. Now passion is the difference between going through the motions and doing something with all your heart. Passion is the fire in your belly that causes you to get up in the middle of the night to try to figure out how you can get something done the next day. The bible uses this word passion and it calls it zeal. It uses this word in a sense as a devotion to a cause, the cause of Christ. These disciples when they came to know Jesus had risen from the dead had passion. They said our hearts burned within us when we came to know Jesus had risen from the dead.
I. REASONS FOR LOST PASSION
Well, I want to talk today about restoring your passion for life. And I want first of all to examine the reason that we loose our passion. In verse 24 it says, “and certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher and found it even as the women had said but Him they saw not.” Now these two disciples of the Lord had lost their passion, why? Why do you and I loose our passion for living? Why does life become dull and monotonous and boring? These disciples had once had the fire, they once had the passion for life, but now they do not, why?
First of all it is because of doubt. In verse 21 notice it says, “We trusted that it had been He which would have redeemed Israel.” Now notice the word trusted is in past tense. We trusted, past tense, but now they are no longer trusting. Now that which had been faith has become doubt. And doubt will always cause you to loose your passion. If you have faith, passion will always follow. Passion follows faith like light follows darkness because doubt will always rob you of passion.
Here are these disciples they are walking toward the little village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. And as they walk along their hearts are filled with doubt. They said we trusted in Jesus but now He is crucified, He is dead. We put all of our hope in Him, but now our faith has been shaken, our hopes have been shattered. This Messiah, this One who was to set up a kingdom is gone. And now, how can He fulfill the promise. And their hearts were filled with doubt. And they were so filled with doubt that Jesus unexpectedly joined them in the way and they didn’t even recognize Jesus because of their doubt.
How many times does Jesus join us along the road of life and we don’t even recognize that He is with us because of our doubt? They are so filled with doubt. Here are disciples who think they have all the facts but they have no fire because they doubt the word of God.
Notice they also lost their passion for life because of disappointment. They said and besides all this, this is the third day since these things were done. Now Jesus had promised the Son of Man will be crucified and on the third day He will rise again from the dead. But they said this is the third day. The women went to the tomb and they saw the tomb empty but they didn’t find the body of Jesus. And for all we know somebody stole the body. And nobody has seen Him. In other words, they were so disappointed. Jesus had joined their company but they were so disappointed they didn’t even recognize that He had fulfilled the promise.
And listen do you know what happened? Jesus didn’t act like they expected Him to act. And so they were disappointed. They had unrealistic expectations. Ladies and gentlemen, His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. As high above the heavens are His thoughts above our thoughts and His ways above our ways. And God does not always act on our timetable and God does not always perform the way we want Him to perform. And so many times, we are disappointed in life because we think God should do it one way and God does it another way. Or we think God should do it on this timetable and God does it another timetable. Oh, it is the third day since all of this has happened. And so they were disappointed.
They lost their passion because of disbelief. “Then He said unto them,” in verse 25, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” They did not believe the word of God. You see there was no reason for them not to believe. Did you know the greatest sin that any person can commit is not adultery, it’s not lying, it’s not theft, and it is the sin of unbelief, because the sin of unbelief is the root sin of all other sin. Jesus said that is the sin that sends people to hell. Jesus said you go to hell not because of what you do but because of what you don’t do. Jesus said it is because they believed not on me. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him hath eternal life. But he that believeth not on Him have not eternal life but the wrath of God abides on him because he does not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” The greatest sin is unbelief.
And here were these disciples who did not believe. Jesus said, O fool and slow of heart who believe. The bible devotes one verse to atheism and it says, “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.” Here were men who did not have passion because they had no hope. They had no hope because they had no belief. I would be sad too, if I had no belief.
The atheists were complaining because of Christians having all these holidays on the calendar and they had no holiday. They said you Christians have Christmas, you Christians have Easter and we have no holiday. So somebody suggested April 1st for you atheists! You see the bible says, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe.” All they would have had to do was do their daily bible reading and they could believe. Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken. The prophets had prophesied that Jesus would rise again from the dead. Isaiah said that He would rise again from the dead. The Psalmist said He would rise again from the dead. Jesus Himself said He would rise again from the dead. Jonah was a picture of His resurrection from the dead. And yet these disciples who knew the word of God did not believe the word of God and because they didn’t believe the word of God they lost their passion.
And I will tell you why a lot of believers have lost their passion, I will tell you why a lot of believers have no fire, I will tell you why a lot of churches have no fire, it is because they do not believe and do not practice and do not spend time in the word of God!
I want to tell you something today all flesh is as grass. And the grass will wither and the flower will fade away but the word of our God will stand forever. Jesus said this, “heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word will never pass away.” Jesus said not one jot or one tiddle shall pass away from the law till all be fulfilled. Do you know what a jot is? To compare it to English a jot is like a little dot over an “i”. A jot is a little ole tiny mark in the Hebrew language. And Jesus said not a little dot, not even a little jot will pass away from the law of God until all be fulfilled. And so when you disbelieve the word of God you are going to be discouraged. You are going to be downcast, you are going to loose your passion for life. You need to go to the word of God. They had lost their passion because of disbelief.
Now I know a lot of liturgical churches who never clap, who never get excited because they have nothing to get excited about. They no longer believe the word of God or the teaching of the word of God. And if you don’t believe the teaching of the word of God, if you don’t believe it is the inspired, infallible word of God then you have nothing to get excited about.
Dr. Criswell tells the story of a Cannibal tribe who became Christians. And these man-eating cannibals became believers, the chief became a Christian and they all became Christians. And a British officer was there and the British office saw one of the cannibals reading the bible. And he said to the cannibal, we sophisticated people; we intellectual people don’t believe that anymore. And the cannibal said, well, you are lucky that we cannibals do believe it or we would be having you for supper! Jesus said, O fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have written concerning Me.”
And last of all, they lost their passion because of discouragement. He said in verse 16, “but their eyes were holden that they should not know Him.” Jesus was alive from the dead but they did not know it. Their eyes were blind to it. Now listen, how can any problem get us down if Jesus is alive? If Jesus is alive from the dead, if Jesus has conquered death and hell and the grave, if there is live everlasting, if heaven is real, then what problem will Jesus have solving anything in our life? If Jesus has all power and authority, if Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father on high, then what problem will He have meeting the need in your life? That means He can answer any prayer that means He can solve any problem that means He can relieve any burden. You see Jesus has risen from the dead. And now He walks with us and He talks with us and He said I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. And here are these disciples; they were discouraged because they are blind to the resurrection of Christ. Jesus is love, Jesus is alive! And that changes everything.
And when you realize that Jesus is alive then it cause you to have a passion for life because you know that you are going to see Him one day. That you have a living Lord and that living Lord is with you and He hears you and He cares about you. And that living Lord has a passion for you and that passion for you gives you a passion for life. And it gives you a passion for others.
II. REMEDIES FOR LOST PASSION
Now secondly, let’s look at the remedies for lost passion. Those are the reasons for lost passion; let’s look at the remedies for lost passion. Maybe you have lost your passion, maybe you have let doubt come in, maybe you have let discouragement come in, and maybe you have let some of these other things come in. What can we do? Number one, remember God’s plan. Verse 26 Jesus said to these disciples, “ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and entered into His glory?” They were all down about the cross. They thought the cross was a disaster. They thought the cross was defeat. They were down in the mouth because their Savior suffered and died. He had been humiliated. He died the death of a criminal. But Jesus said to them as He showed them the scripture, “ought not Christ have suffered?” Isn’t this what the prophets said He would do? Isn’t this what had to happen if sinners such as you and I were to be saved? He pointed out to them that the cross was not defeat the cross was victory. The cross was not tragedy the cross was triumph. The cross was not the end the cross was the beginning. But had there been no Calvary there would be no resurrection. That the cross was necessary in the plan of God.
And friend had there been no cross there would have been no Easter. And He showed them; ought not Christ have to suffer these things? He had to suffer for you and me. This was God’s plan. And so you must remember God’s plan to recapture passion in your life. And God has a plan for you. His plan may be for you to suffer some times. His plan may be for you to fail some times. His plan may be for you to have change of direction in your life some times. You must remember God’s plan.
You know really and truly all these health and wealth guys who preach that the only thing that should happen to a Christian is that he be rich and wealthy and have two Cadillacs in his garage and never suffer and never be sick. All of these guys would have said that the cross was defeat. But Jesus would say some times God’s plan is to suffer. Sometimes God’s plan is sickness, sometimes God’s plan is sorrow, and sometimes God’s plan is tears, sometimes that is the only way God can get our attention. Remember that God has a plan for your life.
Secondly, return to God’s promises. Look at what He said in verse 26, “and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Now we know how Christ loved the bible, He discussed it with the doctors of law when He was twelve years old in the temple. He quoted it to Satan in the wilderness temptation. He preached the bible in His fist sermon at Nazareth in the synagogue. He quoted it again and again in His ministry. Jesus loved the word of God, He knew the word of God, and He used the word of God. Have you ever sat at the feet of a gifted teacher? And your heart just leaped with joy as that teacher expounded the scripture and he dug into the caverns of scripture until he found nuggets of gold in the fathomless caverns of the word of God and your heart was thrilled as he dug out those nuggets of gold and he gave them to you. Can you imagine what it was like for these disciples as Jesus Himself expounded the scriptures to them, all of the things of the scriptures concerning Himself? Glory! Jesus Himself that day was the teacher and He expounded in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. What a lesson in the word they got that day. And you see they returned to the promises of God.
And my friend, one of the ways to regain passion in your life is to remember all of the promises of God for you. And the promises of God will tell you that God has not left you, that you are not alone, that God cares for you, that God is with you, that God will not leave you, that God will not forsake you, that God will not let you down, that God is there, that Jesus is alive, that there is hope, that you don’t have to give up, that God is there!
So, if you want passion restored what did Jesus say? He said remember God’s plan, He said return to God’s promises and then last of all, recognize God’s presence. In verse 31 it says, “and their eyes were opened, and they knew Him;” Oh listen, Jesus had been with them all along as they walked down that road and yet their eyes were closed. But when they sat down with Jesus suddenly they knew Him. And when they knew Him, their hearts were filled with passion. They knew Him. Ladies and gentlemen, that is passion. Coming to know that Jesus was real. Coming to know that Jesus is alive, coming to know that Jesus cares for you. That God has a passion for you; He has a passion for your life. Jesus is alive and He wants to be alive in you. That is a passion. And that will restore the passion in you.
When Jesus got to where they were going Jesus made like He was going to go further, that He had to go on to another town, but they begged Him and said, no stay with us, don’t leave us, stay with us. And so Jesus did. They said, come on into our house, come on in here. You don’t have to go now, come on in and let us fix supper for you. And Jesus did. They invited Him in to stay and Jesus came in and He stayed.
And my friend that is exactly what Jesus will do for you. If you will invite Him into your life today He will come in and He will stay in your life and He will restore your passion. He will restore a meaning for your life. And if you have never invited Him in, He will give you a passion for life that you have never known for the very first time. He will give you eternal life. He said, “behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, stay with him and he with Me.” And He made as though He would go further. In other words, He was a perfect gentleman. He waited to be invited. That is what it says in the scripture, He made as though He would go further down the road, but they said, please, please don’t go, and come in. Now if you want Jesus to pass you by, if you want Jesus to go further down the road and go in to somebody else’s life He will, but if you want Him to stop and come into your life, He will. And the choice is yours.
Let’s bow together for prayer. Father, how we thank you for this time together. Now we ask this morning you would speak to hearts and lives. We know that there are those here this morning that have never invited Jesus into their heart. And how we pray this morning that You will speak to them. That this would be the day that they would say Jesus I believe you died for me and rose again. Come into my heart and be my Savior and my Lord. I wonder as we just bow our heads in prayer for a moment more, this morning if you have never asked Jesus to come into your heart, the bible says to as many as receive Him to them He gives them the power to become the children of God. Salvation is a free gift. It is not a matter of religion; it is a matter of accepting Jesus in your life as Savior and Lord. The bible says that if you receive Him, He will come. If you want Him to go by and go somewhere else, He will, but if you ask Him He will come into your heart. If you want Him to come into your heart He says, if anyone will open the door I will come in and I will stay with him and he with Me.
