02/01/09
FOUR STEPS TO THE SAFETY ZONE
2 Chr 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
(KJV)
INTRO.
SPIRITUALLY EXHAUSTED
While principle-centered preaching seems to resonate with so many people, it actually can lead to two equally dangerous paths.
One path is spiritual pride.
Those who are working hard to implement this feel really good about themselves.
They feel close to God because of how well they are doing--sort of like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who rejoiced in his own moral goodness and despised the sinner praying next to him.
How convenient that pride and self-centeredness weren't on his list!
If we as pastors are not careful, we can end up creating a culture filled with Pharisees--good, moral people who are striving to do the right thing and yet remain blind to their own real need.
The other dangerous path is the path of disillusionment and despair.
Each week, those in our churches hear more things they are supposed to be doing--good, spiritual, Christian things--and they know deep down that they can't do it.
They've tried to change. They've knelt at the altar, making promises and commitments and resolutions, but each time the end result is the same: no change except for the added guilt and shame. Some resolve to try harder, but others give up all together.
So what's the answer? How can we as pastors and teachers help people avoid the trappings of the principle-focused path?
How are we to preach to the spiritually exhausted?
The answer may surprise you: Preach the gospel. Preach the gospel not just to the lost but to the found.
Often we as pastors see the gospel as the entry point into Christianity.
We preach the gospel to lost people, but we fail to realize that the saved need the gospel just as desperately.
The gospel is not simply the starting line for Christianity; it is the race itself. (See how Paul talks about the gospel in Colossians 1:6 and Romans 1:15.)
So how does one go about preaching the gospel to those who have already embraced it?
The answer is very simple: Preach repentance and faith as continual activities rather than as one-time, initial responses to the gospel.
The mistake we often make is not realizing that repentance and faith are critical aspects of a person's ongoing experience with Christ.
Preaching Repentance
Often we as pastors shy away from using the "repentance" word too frequently.
We realize that many Christians view it as an oppressive, negative word or as something we do when we really mess up.
Part of our role as pastors and teachers is to help people understand that repentance is anything but oppressive.
It is life-giving! When Jesus began his ministry of preaching the gospel of the kingdom, he laid a crucial foundation with these words from Matthew 5:3:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Guess what He's talking about? Repentance.
To be poor in spirit is to see the depth of our brokenness, to see the depth of our need.
This, like the other beatitudes, is not a one-time event but rather a continual response.
When we as believers truly understand the gospel, it forces us to face the truth that we are a lot more sinful than we realize.
When God began to open my eyes to see the gospel in this "new" way, He started by showing me how much I needed it--even in the most spiritual of activities.
This is us. We need the gospel every moment of every day, because our flesh is instinctively drawn toward self-absorption and idolatry.
In light of this, one of our key tasks as teachers is helping all of our people see the depth of their need for Christ.
We all need our eyes opened to see how self-absorbed and self-centered we truly are, how often we look for life in all sorts of things rather than God.
Redefining Sin
Part of our problem with repentance is how we define sin.
If we talk about sin as "doing bad things," our people will freely acknowledge that they are not perfect, but at the same time they will feel they are doing pretty well.
However, when we define sin as a breakdown of the first commandment--loving God with all of our being--suddenly we realize that we have a BIG problem with sin.
It permeates all we do. How often are we as Christians trying to find life and meaning and significance and security in things other than God?
How often do we look to shopping, our 401(k), our attractiveness, our reputation or our success to find our ultimate joy?
When we begin talking about sin this way, suddenly the room gets quiet.
People begin to see that sin is so much more than doing bad things; it includes the multitude of ways we replace God with ourselves as the center of our lives.
The great thing about defining sin this way is that I can always find lots of personal examples to share in messages--which fosters an atmosphere in which it's okay to admit you're broken.
This goes a long way in creating a culture of continual repentance.
One leads to self-sufficiency, the other to Christ-sufficiency.
A New Testament Pattern
Once we begin to grasp this continual repentance and faith message, we begin seeing it everywhere in the New Testament.
Jesus said in John 7:37, "If anyone is thirsty, let Him come to Me and drink."
That's the gospel! If someone doesn't admit they are thirsty, they won't run to Jesus for help.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:10, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." In his weakness, he more fully experienced God's power.
In Romans 7:24-25, after being brutally honest about his own brokenness, Paul declares, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
In each of these places as well as dozens of others (including Galatians 2:20 and Matthew 11:28-30), the spiritual life is described as a cycle of continual repentance and faith.
As we see the depth of our need, we can more fully embrace Christ in that moment.
Paul's words in 1 Timothy 1:15, written at the end of his life, are incredibly eye-opening: "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst."
Notice, he doesn't say "I was the worst but am beyond that now." Paul says, "I am the worst of sinners."
Present tense! Paul's lifelong path of spiritual maturity involved seeing with increasingly clarity the depth of his need for mercy--which made him increasingly more in love with his Savior.
_____________________________________________________________
BODY
Prov 29:25
25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
(KJV)
FIRST STEP-----Humble themselves----
3665 kana`-HUMBLE
to be humble, to be humbled, to be subdued, to be brought down, to be low, to be under, to be brought into subjection.
2)
SECOND STEP---------Pray
Song 2:14
14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. (KJV)
Dan 9:19
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. (KJV)
*** The Three Steps of Effective Prayer............
HEAR---To get His attention is for Him to get our attention.
FORGIVE—A repentant heart is one that moves God the fastest. Self justification is the first step to a reprobate mind.
HEARKEN-- Give heed and act! Now it's time to start asking for something! “ Do something! Don't wait! Do it now!
*** TYPES OF PRAYER***
CURRENT; IMMEDIATE RESULTS.
MEMORIAL; THE LAWAWAY.
Acts 10:4
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
(KJV)
Ps 56:8
8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
(KJV)
CHANNELS OF PRAYER
1 Tim 2:1
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; (KJV)
PRAYER-- Expressing your hearts desire to God. Talking to God.
SUPPLICATION-- More intense, it has tears and feeling, helps faith.
INTERCESSION-- The deepest prayer you can pray. With great groaning, travail. Produces quick results. Produces the current prayers.
It is specific prayers for particular needs, for particular times.
THANKSGIVING-- Just thank Him, praise, worship.
*** Start out with prayer and try to reach the rest.
***Seek for supplication.
***Open the channels for intercession.
***You want thanksgiving if it will come.
***If none of these come, search your heart, if everything is clear and you know you are right with God and there is no hindrance for you to go deeper and farther in prayer then, just accept prayer.
You are talking to God!
*** THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER***
Eph 6:18
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (KJV)
Col 1:3
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
(KJV)
1Thes 5:17
17 Pray without ceasing.
(KJV)
*** If you are sitting around waiting on God to force you to pray, you probably won't pray!
*** The voice of prayer comes soft, tender, and easy to grieve.
*** That's why the bible says.........
Eph 4:30
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
(KJV)
*** It doesn't take but a few times of God calling you to prayer and you disobeying it, until that voice won't speak anymore.
Prov 18:10
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
(KJV)
THIRD STEP------------- Seek His face
1245 baqash-SEEK
to seek, to require, to desire, to exact, to request
1) to seek to secure
2) to demand
(AMP)-- Crave and desire of necessity.
6440 paniym,-FACE
b) presence,
f) as an adverb of location temp: before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before
g) with preposition: in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of.
It speaks of location or even attitude of.
Ps 119:117
117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
(KJV)
FOURTH STEP---------Turn from their wicked ways
7725 shuwb-TURN
to return, to turn back
4) used of dying
c) to turn back (to God), to repent
d) to turn back (from evil)
1870 derek-WAYS
a way, a road, a distance, a journey, a manner
a) a road, a way, a path
b) a journey
c) a direction
d) a manner, a habit, a way
e) used of the course of life (figurative)
f) used of moral character (figurative)
Ps 91:1-16
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
(KJV)
