Summary: THIS SERMON IS ABOUT PREPARING OUR HEARTS THROUGH EXAMINATION AND CAPITULATION AND EXPERIENCING 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?

LUKE 22:42-43

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

1 CORINTHIANS 4:11-13

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

2 CORINTHIANS 6:4-10

Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;

in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;

through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;

known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;

sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:23-30

" Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.

I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

3. EXALTATION

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Trials and testings are a stepping stone to exaltation and elevation. The Lord rewards and blesses those who endure trials and come out victoriously.The Lord does not permit trials and testings to destroy us but to give us an opportunity to go higher and receive greater blessings in our life. The Lord tested Abraham by asking him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. When Abraham came out victoriously in the test , the Lord showered abundant blessings on him. Job was tested when he lost all his wealth and all his children. Job did not curse God when these tragedies occured. Instead he blessed God and surrendered to His will. Then the Lord blessed him twice as much as before and greatly exalted him. Joseph was tested severely until the dream that God gave him was fulfilled. He was sold as a slave , thrown into prison on false accusations. But he remained faithful to God and the Lord delivered him and exalted him and made him a great ruler over Egypt who saved that nation during famine .He saved his own family who had tried to destroy him. Thus the Lord always blesses and exalts all those who endure trials and testings and come out victoriously.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

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JAMES 1:12

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

ABRAHAM

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GENESIS 22: 1-2 , 15-18

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time

and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,

and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

JOB

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JOB 1:8-22

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,

a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,

and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,

when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship

and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

JOB 42:10-17

After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.

Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

JOSEPH

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PSALM 105:16-22

He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;

and he sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,

till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.

The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.

He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed,

to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

CONCLUSION

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We must consider our life’s journey and the way the Lord has led us so far . We must allow the Lord to examine our hearts and reveal our true condition. We must realise where we have failed in the tests that we have faced and receive the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. We must receive His grace and strength to be victorious in the areas where we have failed in the past. We must put away our past failures and look ahead into the future with a new determination to fulfill the purpose of God for our lives.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

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1 JOHN 1:7-10

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

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