Do's and Dont's for Troubled Hearts

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John 13:36-14:6

Recap of 10/28/12 (John 13:36-38):

1.  The disciples in John 13ff were bewildered, fearful, facing an uncertain future.  Jesus’ announcements to them about His going away, His impending death, that one of the 12 was a traitor sent them into a tailspin.  Further, He told them that Peter would disown Him, that Satan wanted to “sift” them, and that they would all fall away.  In the words of Bruce Wilkinson and Ken Boa: “In this clear and vivid recollection of Jesus’ last discourse to His intimate disciples, John captures the Lord’s words of comfort and assurance to a group of fearful and confused followers.”

2.  Jesus’ instructions to the disciples provide us with a roadmap for dealing with life’s uncertainties. 

3.  First, we must not trust in our own strength. That was Peter’s failure.  

-we must know ourselves, our weaknesses, our breaking point, we must not ignore them.

-we must set boundaries for protection

-we are all one bad decision from failing as Peter did

-“Impetuous and well-meaning, Peter had to learn the hard way to gauge his weaknesses.  His example is very human and therefore very helpful.” (Merrill Unger)

4.  Second, we must not underestimate Satan and his designs on us:

-we must be alert, 1 Peter 5:8 (to sin, to anger, to doubting God and His Word)

-we must be clothed in God’s armor, Ephesians 6:13-18

-we must train vigorously, Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Philippians 4:8

-we must not neglect the spiritual disciplines (the Word, meditating, praying, etc.).  To neglect the spiritual disciplines is to show confidence in the flesh, handling life’s uncertainties without God.

 

The Unmistakable Mark Of A Disciple

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John 13:31-38 Recap of 10/21/12 (John 13:31-35): 1. After Judas’ departure Jesus began to teach the remaining 11 disciples in earnest. Bible scholars call His teaching the “Upper Room Discourse.” Of this teaching Everitt F. Harrison writes: “These precious words of Christ were spoken in the light of His impending departure to the Father and had in view conditions under which the Lord’s followers would have to carry on without His personal presence (16:4). Three principal strands of teaching are discernible: (1) commands and concerning the task set before the disciples, which was a fruitbearing witness undergirded and permeated with love; (2) warnings about the opposition to be faced from the world and from Satan; and most of all (3) an exposition of the divine provisions by which the disciples would be sustained and made triumphant in the coming days.” 2. Jesus would glorify God the Father and Himself be glorified by His acceptance of the Father’s will for Him especially seen in the cross. When we think of glorifying God we often think of it as some expression of verbal praise. But to glorify God is to give Him His rightful place as sovereign over our lives, to have His work displayed in our lives as in the man born blind (John 9) or the death of Lazarus (John 11). It’s not my words lifted to Heaven alone that glorifies God but my life offered to His will on earth. 3. The disciples were weak, immature, dis-united and disheartened. There love for Jesus had bound this dispirit group together, now He would be gone from them so it would be necessary for them to be “bound by a mutual love for each other.” In the dark days following the cross the thing that would keep this group from splitting was their love and commitment to each other. So Jesus gave them a new commandment that they love one another on the basis and by the example of His love for them.

Living in good soil

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Sermon this week by: Steve Plank
Mark 4:1-9, 14-20

Satan,Betrayal, and Night

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Recap of 10/7/12 (John 13:18-30):

1.  Jesus predicts His betrayal so that the disciples would know that what would happen was not a surprise to Him.  He quotes Psalm 41:9 in support of His prediction.  William Barclay points out: “It was as Scripture said it would be.  There was never any doubt that the redeeming of the world would cost the broken heart of God.  Jesus knew what was happening.  He knew the cost and He was ready to pay it.  He did not want the disciples to think that He was caught up in a blind web of circumstances from which He could not escape.  He was not going to be killed; He was choosing to die.  At the moment they did not, and could not, see that, but He wanted to be sure that a day would come when they would look back and remember and understand.” 

2.  Jesus gave Judas numerous opportunities to change course, treating him as an honored guest at the Last Supper, but Judas yielded himself instead to be used of Satan.

3.  Judas is a cautionary tale in the sense that: A person can know doctrine, can associate with God’s people, can be found in worship services and at the Lord’s Table and yet now know Jesus as Savior.  (John Mitchell)

4.  Two good sources for Biblical teaching about Satan and demons are:  Balancing the Christian Life by Dr. Charles Ryrie and You Mean the Bible Teaches That …, also by Dr. Ryrie.

And It Was Night

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Recap of 9/30/12 (John 13:14-17):

1.  Humility is essential to the life, service, and exercise of authority of the believer.

2.  Humility is not, as commonly thought, thinking poorly about ourselves, it is not being preoccupied with ourselves (the freedom not to think about ourselves). “Being humble involves having a true perspective about ourselves (see Romans 12:3).  It does not mean that we should put ourselves down.” (NLT One Year Study Bible)

3.  Pride (self) gets in the way of humility.

4.  To deal with pride:

-we must realize and accept our position in Christ, finding our satisfaction and acceptance in Him.

-we must realize that all we have and all we are (gifts, talent, knowledge, position, status, means) are from God’s hand (1 Corinthians 4:7)

-when we think about others we must focus on how we may serve them, not on how we compare with them (2 Corinthians 10:12,18; Philippians 2:3,4)

-we must take control of our thoughts, asking “Would Christ think this way, or would he like this thought?” We must not let our thoughts be taken captive by our feelings.

-when feeling  ad about ourselves or threatened by others we must focus our thoughts upon Christ (Philippians 4:8)

5.  Jesus is the primary biblical example of humility (Philippians 2:4-8), Timothy is cited by Paul as another (Philippians 2:19-24).

6.  God’s attitude toward the proud (resistance) and the humble (providing grace) should be motivation for believers to seek humility.