Overcoming This Life's Trials

Let's pray. Lord, we're grateful to be here together. We're thankful that you've led us on the journey and that you haven't forsaken us, that you're always with us as we seek to do your will, that you make your will clear to us in plain, that we could overcome. In Jesus' name, Amen. Scripture says that in this world you will have trouble, but Jesus said rejoice because I've overcome the world. God's people need to also be overcoming people because this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus that we would overcome, that we would be set apart for his purpose and for his glory and to learn to trust him that when things are difficult, when trials come, when the winds beat on our house and the floods come and difficult times come from the Lord that the Lord has a plan in it all, perhaps to expose motives and intents in our heart, perhaps to reveal something that we are blind to, that we were trusting in something, maybe uncertain riches, but that we would come to be able to let go and fully trust in the living God. If we want to have life, then we need the spirit of God to flow forth from our hearts into all parts of our being, to yield our bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord, which is our reasonable act of worship. God calls us to be worshipers. Worshiping isn't how much we can scream and dance when we sing. Worshiping is when you're going through an agonizing Gethsemane experience and you're still able to go through with God because you love God and you trust him. I think of Abraham at the end of his days when near the end of his trials when God asked him to lay his Isaac on the altar and he rose early the next morning and I think of how in times past he would listen to his wife and his wife would give him advice and he would be reasoning things in his head, but now a time has come when he's come to know the voice of God and he's listening to the Lord and the Lord says, I want you to take your son Isaac and I want you to sacrifice him on the mountain that I will show you and he rose early the next morning. He didn't talk to his wife, he took some servants with him, he grabbed his son, they carried wood, they brought fire and a knife and they headed up to the place God would show him, not knowing where he was going. Then the Lord revealed to him the mountain on which he should sacrifice his son and he said to his servants, the lad and I are going to worship and then we will come back here to this place and he put the wood on his son's back, he took the fire and the knife and they headed up this mountain to make a sacrifice unto the Lord and Abraham had all his hope in his son. He had poured into him for all those years, he was his special treasure. The promise of God, yet now God was asking him to do something he himself was prepared to do in offering his son Jesus on the cross. He asked Abraham to make the ultimate sacrifice and take the blessing of God and give it to the Lord as a sweet savor unto him and as they're heading up that hill he doesn't waver in unbelief, he persists and he pushes through saying I'm going to go through with God, him and the lad we're going to worship. It says in Romans 12 that we should offer our bodies, a living sacrifice unto the Lord, holy and acceptable to him which is our reasonable act of worship. Not conforming ourselves to the world but being transformed through the renewing of our minds that we no longer listen to the voices that come in our head but we're able to pick out the voice of God and say this is the way to walk in it. To be worshipers that we would come to know that good and that acceptable and that perfect will of God for our lives. Abraham puts the son on the altar and his son says well where's the sacrifice and he said that God will provide and he bound him and he placed him there on top of the wood and he holds the knife up to put it through him and give his best to God and God stops him and says don't lay a hand on the lad. He said now I know that you fear me. There's something in worship that we learn about the fear of God that there's nothing that we will withhold from the Lord. There's nothing more important, there's nothing more precious, there's nothing worth more financially speaking than to love Jesus, to follow God and to be a worshiper. God provided a ram and the thicket for him to offer to the Lord and his son came back down and it says Abraham believed God and it went on to his account for righteousness because he knew God it was impossible for him to lie and God had promised Abram before when he was Abram that he would have a son come from his own body and he made covenant with him and he became Abraham and he said that in Isaac your seed shall be blessed. The blessing of Abraham would be in Isaac and he believed in the resurrection that if he offered his son to God and he made a burnt sacrifice of his son God would somehow raise him from the dead. It says in Hebrews chapter 11 he believed in the resurrection. Many of us say we believe in the resurrection when God is asking us to surrender our idols, to lay down our relationships, to give us our to give our wives to the Lord, to give our children to the Lord, to give our businesses to the Lord, to give our possessions, to give our hearts, to give everything that we have to the Lord, to be a worshiper and to say God you're enough. Jesus you're my all in all. You're my everything. You're my everything. Let's look in John in chapter 6. The multitudes were following Jesus all over the place because he was providing them bread to eat. He was doing miracles for them. He was performing wonders for them. He was delivering them of demons. He had given everything that they couldn't buy with money. He had provided for them and given them and the ones that didn't have money he gave them bread to eat and they followed him all over the place and there's this point where Jesus comes and the crowd had followed him there. The 70 were there. The 12 were there and many people they're following him but it also speaks that Jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with sufferings he understood loneliness he understood having a relationship with his father and not trusting in his relationships with people because relationships with people they come and they go people will let you down I will let you down in some regard you will let people down and Jesus understood these things but he was not prepared to let his father down and that has to be our heart that we would want to go through with God and not let our father down we read here in verse 47. John 6 47. Moses surely I say to you he who believes in me has everlasting life I am the bread of life your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead this is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die I am the living bread which has come down from heaven if anyone eats this bread he will live forever the bread that I shall give is my flesh which I shall give for the the life of the world and Jesus therefore and the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat then Jesus said to them Moses surely I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you whoever eats this flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him he had given them so many natural things to this point and they were following him and at one point they wanted to take him and make him king and for this reason he was born to be king but not according to the flesh not according to the outward appearance not according to man's ways it says of him when we saw him there was no appearance to him no beautiful appearance or stature that we should desire to be like him in today's world we look to the the teen idols we look to the the sports idols we look to the hollywood idols we have our our things that we idolize and we admire and there's some form of beauty and stature that we desire to be like them and to look like them and to follow after them but of jesus it says that he had no beauty or comeliness or outward appearance that we would say man he's head and shoulders above the rest we want to be like him look at the look at his stature look at his physique look at how he dresses so so costly clothing and all this this is how man sees and he was giving them all those things and showing them all these miracles signs and wonders and they followed him because of it but none of them were saved because of it this gave evidence to who he was that he was the christ the son of the living god but then when it was time for him to tell them to come to him to feed on him to eat of his flesh to drink of his blood to have his life in them they didn't understand these things because he said my words are spirit and they're spiritually understood we say earthly things are real things and spiritual things are for heaven but that's not true whenever jesus spoke he spoke of the spirit he spoke parables natural things of spiritual truths the spiritual is far greater than natural things and we need revelation of that as we walk with god and begin to see that our inheritance is not in this life our inheritance is in jesus and all the riches of the god had dwelled in him and are complete in him and if we'll only feed on him his word is life if we'd come to love his word man shall not live by man alone but by every word of god are you prepared to feed on the word of god are you prepared to feed on christ are you prepared to allow this word not to just pack your head with knowledge but it would become a part of you that you would live thereby would you have the blood of emmanuel's blood flowing through your veins that his life would be your life that you could say i live because i live i can face tomorrow because of the love of god that is shed abroad into my heart that i have become partakers of his divine nature that he's in me and i'm in him that i'm born not of corruptible seed but incorruptible seed i've tasted i've seen that the lord is good blessed is the man who trusts in the lord and you begin to see the proud you don't respect the proud anymore and those who love lives and live for the flesh seek the lord while you may be found call upon him while he's near this message is not popular jesus wasn't interested in how many thumbs up he would get or how many likes he would get he was interested in speaking truth unto them that they might have life in themselves he who has the son has the life does the word of god dwell richly in you do you live thereby or can you just quote scripture or can you just know the right things to say but you have no power to overcome sin my flesh is food indeed my blood is drink indeed he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and i in him verse 57 john 6 as the living father sent me and i live because of the father so he who feeds on me will live because of me this is the bread which came down from heaven not as your fathers ate and are dead he who eats this bread will live forever these things he said in the synagogue as he taught in capernum therefore many of his disciples when they heard this they said this is a hard saying who can understand it and when jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this he said to them does this offend you what then if you should see the son of man ascend where he was before it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing the words that i speak to you are spirit and they are life but there are some of you who do not believe for jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray him and he said therefore i have said unto you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my father and from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more it's hard to speak the words of god when you know that in the end you may be sitting there by yourself jesus was not concerned about being popular he was concerned about the word that his father told him to speak and to be obedient to that will not to do his own will but to yield himself to the will of his father your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they're dead but the one who eats this bread this bread is my flesh this is the word of god which comes from heaven and if we feed on this word the living word of god if it becomes flesh and blood in you it becomes true in you not just taking of the command of the of the communion bread and drinking of the communion wine and saying well it becomes this and that inside my body no this is when we read the word of god and we say lord i don't see it it's not real in me make this bread real in my life make it real in my life i wouldn't be a hypocrite anymore i wouldn't be a liar anymore have thine own way in my life shape me and mold me after thy will that i might do thy will oh god that i might become a worshipper many of his disciples walked with him no more i think of the days of elijah the people had ceased from walking with the lord and they started to follow the prosperity god baal and baal seemed to be doing much for them they all followed him all israel turned away from the lord and followed baal and there was some prophets in a cave that were hiding and elijah was there and the lord said that he was going to cause a famine to come on the land it's not a famine of bread or of water it wasn't elijah's day but the famine that the true famine is on hearing the truth hearing the true word of the lord people are running to and fro and wondering well is it this politician or is it that politician is it this news channel or is it that news channel who's speaking the truth jesus said my word is truth he said i am the way the truth in the life and no one will come to the father but by me we need to love the word of god the word of god can sustain us the word of god can keep us from falling and present us faultless if we eat and feed on the man that famine came in the land for three and a half years elijah prayed and no rain fell on the land everything dried up and then god sent him down and to israel and he said you call on your false prophets to come and make an altar to god and i'll make an altar to god and the god who answers by fire he is god i suppose the question that everyone should ask themselves is are you serving the god who answers by fire have you offered your body a living sacrifice to the lord are you a worshiper this is our reasonable act of worship some versions say service to present your bodies holy and acceptable to god or are you content to be filthy still are you content to honor him with your lips while your heart is so far from him 450 false prophets of bail got together he said you build an altar to your bail and i'll build an altar to jehovah my god he said you go first and so they put their sacrifice there on top of the wood and they did some crying and some praying until certain time and no answer came no fire came he said perhaps your god is sleeping perhaps he's on a vacation maybe you need to cry louder maybe he's not hearing you because he's hard of hearing i don't know and they cried all the more and they cut themselves and screamed and did all kinds of things trying to get the attention of their prosperity god that god did not answer them then at the time of the evening sacrifice elijah built an altar he took stones 12 stones one for each tribe he built an altar there and he placed the wood on it and he took the bullock and he prepared that bullock and he put that bull on the altar and then he called for them to bring buckets of water and he dumped four buckets of water on them and then he dumped another four buckets of water he had put a moat around it and then he did another four bucks one bucket of water for every tribe to wash that sacrifice thoroughly and completely there's something that we need to understand here that the sacrifice needs washing it needs washing with the pure water of the word when it says offer your bodies a living sacrifice unto god which is our reasonable act of worship we begin by washing the sacrifice washing with pure water and the regeneration of the holy spirit of fire john says i baptize you with water but there's one coming after me who will baptize you with holy ghost fire have you been washed in water have you received the fire of god everything is purified with water and ultimately with fire then elijah prayed and it didn't take god but long and fire came from heaven and licked up all the pieces that had been put on the altar perhaps he had cut those pieces up and put them on the altar he put all those parts there according to the order until all the sacrifice was on the altar maybe this morning there's something that you've held back from god and the fire has not fallen though you've called on the name of jehovah you've asked jesus to change you but you've held something back from god maybe it's the love of money maybe you figured that you can't serve two masters you can love one and the other one you can love it too but not as much but god is a jealous god and the fire will not fall until all the parts have been put on the altar till you fully surrendered your heart to the lord to love the lord with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your might have you surrendered your ears to the lord the music you listen to the gossip you like to listen to have you surrendered your tongues as brother johnny shared to the lord the salt water still flow from bitterness still come out of this opening while you worship god and you curse men made in the likeness of god how about your eyes do you still watch uncleanness unclean movies filthy things ungodly things pornography sensuality does it still fascinate you or have you surrendered your eyes to the lord our noses the things that we love to smell are you fascinated by the creation and smelling beautiful flowers or are you fascinated by the fragrance of christ a sweet smelling savor to the lord how about your hands have you given your hands to jesus say no longer will i use these hands to do my way and do my will no longer will i use them for sin or for doing my hobbies and all the things that i love to serve my items to rub them with diapers i'm going to give them for the lord's use in your feet are your feet chodd continually with the preparation of the gospel of peace do you use your legs the strength of men's legs do you use that in in your ability to get something done for god or something done in the flesh or have you surrendered it all to the lordship of jesus christ because the fire brother sister is not going to fall until all the parts you surrender them willingly to the lord and then the fire will come to love the lord with all your heart all your soul all your mind all your strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is the fulfillment of love toward god jesus said eat my flesh and drink my blood or you have no life in you are you eating are you feasting at his table can you say jesus is my all in all he's my everything there's nothing i desire besides the silver and gold don't fascinate me you fascinate me jesus to do your will is my all in all my everything and many of his disciples that he poured into left when he spoke the truth to them when he gave them a piece of his flesh to eat and he gave them a cup of his blood to drink they said this is a hard saying and they didn't understand it and they walked away verse 60 he says therefore many of his disciples they went when they heard this they said this is a hard saying who can understand it jesus knew himself his disciples complained about this and he said to them does this offend you many people will be offended by the word of god so what what does that change about the truth of the word of god are you here to make friends are you here to get likes are you willing to go through with god what if none go with you will you follow what if you're about your husband he doesn't want to follow the lord then you go through with god what about your wife what about she says curse god and die you go through with god what if your father and mother don't follow you what is that to you follow the lord what about your children and your children's children what if they all go for the bail what if they all worship bail and they love the world and everything in it what is that to you let the dead bury the dead you follow him go through with jesus these are everything it is the spirit that gives life the flesh profits nothing we're 64 there are some of you who do not believe he said no one can come to me unless the spirit draws him from that time verse 66 many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more then jesus he said to the 12 do you also want to go away but simon peter answered him lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life in other words we are ready to feast on your words we are ready to live by your word we are ready to die with your work we are ready to go through with god because of your holy words we have also come to believe and to know that you are the christ the son of the living god and jesus answered them did i not choose you the 12 and one of you is a devil and he spoke this of judas is scary at the son of simon for it was he who would betray him being one of the 12 let's look now in matthew in 26 it was two days before the passover and jesus was ready setting his course to go to jerusalem to finish his race to eat the passover to go through with the purpose for why he was created why he was born so to speak and he came in verse 6 to the house of simon the leper because he was invited there and a woman which i believe was mary the sister of lazarus and martha and she came to him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrance fragrant oil and she poured it on jesus head as he sat at the table some say this woman had seven demons we don't know what kind of woman this was but to have this kind of fragrant oil seems to suggest that she used this thing to lure men this oil was worth one year's wages but it didn't take one year to save for this kind of thing if that common man would have had to save maybe for six or seven years to save up with all the expenses and the cost of living to have such an investment in this pure oil of spikenard and she comes to this house while the food is on the table and she breaks the flask and she pours it on jesus head down to the cloak down to his feet into the ground and she anoints him for burial maybe she'd given 90 to the lord at this point and there was conviction and opportunity for her to do this in other times but she'd not gone through all the way with god perhaps she was holding back this one thing which is a connection perhaps to her past and then she was motivated to go through with god and to put that last thing to rest in her heart as she went and brought all that she had to jesus that thing that was of most value that thing that was of highest value and highest regard to her and she gave it to jesus that's when the fire falls that's when god comes that's when your life changes yes he's done many things for us yes we have but we ask for more until he subdues you completely until he becomes your all in all your everything and there are some who don't understand there are some who will get upset and be angry there are some who will say such waste such foolishness i remember times in my life where i'd taken things that had great value and i'd take them out to the lawn and i would smash them and i would cry i remember one time i used to preach with these cowboy boots snakeskin that a man gave me and i felt like i had some kind of authority when i would preach with these boots they were a gift and i felt it was a gift from god while i was in my prayer time i heard the lord speak to me and the holy spirit i said lord is there anything that you want me to surrender to you i'm willing to give everything to you and the holy spirit said burn the boots now and holy fear gripped me and i i ran like fleeing from a plague and i grabbed those boots took them to my lawn and poured gasoline on them and lit them on fire and there was a big black spot right in the middle of my grass seemed such foolishness but the lord says i'll not share my glory with you it's not you who have the power it's not you and it's not your authority and it's not your boots it's the power of the holy spirit burn the boots now as many times in our life the holy spirit gives us light we're not doing it for men we do it because we fear god and we love god we don't want the lord to be grieved because of our pride and our foolishness and our stupidity the scripture says those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs we cannot afford to forfeit the grace of god brother sisters when the disciples saw this woman pouring out her fragrant oil this costly perfume on jesus head it says they were angry seeing why such waste for this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor but when jesus was aware of it he said to them why do you trouble this woman for she has done a good work for me for you have the poor with you always but me you do not have always for him pouring out this fragrant oil on my body she did it for my burial and assuredly i say to you wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world what this woman has done will also be told as memorial to her you know what can happen is you get one brother one dominant brother who says why such waste this could have been sold in the money given to the poor makes perfect sense i heard this saying once if it makes good sense seek no other sense this is demonic human wisdom the human mind the natural mind doesn't understand the things of the spirit they don't understand the things that are going on in the heart and here this judas the ringleader he pipes up now this judas he wasn't interested in the poor this judas he was interested in money he loved the world he had compromised he was the one who would steal from the box and take the money for himself so he could buy little treats for himself little presents for himself that he could enjoy himself while they were on the journey and jesus knew it all along but he did not say anything and here judas is piping up and he gets some of the brothers some of the other disciples to agree with him and then he also stirred them up to become angry brothers god doesn't look as man sees we don't look at the outward appearance and try to reason with our heads this or that or the other thing god looks at the heart and if we have the heart of god we're going to be able to look past some of the things that happen between us as brothers and we'll stop judging one another according to the flesh and we'll be able to say lord i don't understand it but lord work it together for your good somehow in jesus name and let us search our own hearts and say lord is there anything i'm holding back from putting on the altar of god so that the fire could fall now it's very interesting in this in this book of matthew that it says in verse 14 then one of the 12 called judas iscariot he went to the chief priest and he said what are you willing to give me if i deliver him to you and they counted out for him 30 pieces of silver so from that time he sought opportunity to betray jesus you cannot serve god and money you're going to love one and hate the other you're going to be loyal to one and you're going to despise the other here this one event of giving all to jesus caused judas to become so angry that it sent his feet in motion to betray the one whom he said that he loved it says jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief he was a man who knew how to be alone alone with his father and that that would be enough and as he began to come to understand god's purpose and plan for his life that he knew that all were going to forsake him even the 12th at one time they stood with him and said you have the words of eternal life and we're ready to feed on that word and we're ready to follow you it would become manifest that none of them would follow jesus now they went to prepare the passover and he says here in verse 20 matthew 6 26 20 when evening had come he sat down with the 12 now as they were eating he said surely i say to you one of you will be trained and this is interesting thing to note here that they were exceedingly sorrowful and each one of them began to search their own hearts because it seemed as though somehow in their hearts they knew that there was something in them that was very capable of betraying jesus and each one of them began to say to jesus lord is it me lord is it me the lord says i search the mind i search the heart his ways are higher than our ways we don't even know sometimes the motives and intents of our heart until god brings a circumstance and we get to see for ourselves what's really going on inside of us that we might repent and return to the lord he allows these things in our life so that we can see it he already knows it he knew who would betray him but the 12 did not know you have the words of eternal life to whom shall we go you're the christ and every single one of them said lord is it me and jesus went on from there he says the son of man indeed goes just as it is written but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would be better for him if he had never been born then judas who was betraying him answered and said rabbi is it i and jesus said to him you said it then while he was eating jesus took bread he blessed it and he broke it and he gave to his disciples and he said take eat this is my body and he took the cup and he gave thanks and he gave it to them saying drink of it all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins and jesus said in 31 all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night for it is written i will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered but after i have been raised i will go before you in galilee then peter answered and said to him even if all are made to stumble because of you i will never be made to stumble you go from this having this moment and this realization that there's something in me that could deny the lord that could betray the lord to then being confident in the flesh again and saying i'll never deny you and all of them said the same they all said the same but brother sister it's not him who wills nor of him who runs but of god who shows mercy now to him who is able to keep us from stumbling that he may present us faultless before him brothers sisters we are kept by the power of god and we have to yield ourselves completely to him for we stand by grace for by grace you are being saved through faith and this not of yourselves it's a gift from god less any man should boast they all were made to stumble because of him their eyes became heavy in his darkest hour and there he was at gethsemane sweating drops of blood saying if it's possible take this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thy will be done he was alone there with his father in this life we will have trouble brother sisters but rejoice jesus has overcome the world he went through it and he paved the way for us but we might go through with god my friend who ate bread at the table with me david says has lifted up his heel against him there's nothing harder than a friend a true brother someone like judas whom jesus loved who lifts up his heel against you and strikes you so hard that it costs you your life judas purposed it with these religious leaders that he would betray jesus and when he came to the garden after jesus had gone through this tremendous travail in surrendering and setting his course for the cross he comes and says rabbi and jesus calls him friend and he gives him a big kiss on the cheek and he betrays him with a kiss you know there's many of us who honor god with our lips we sing praises to him in church we sing worship to him in the car but it's not truly sacrificial worship because we have not surrendered our all and all there's something we've held back and the fire has not fallen the fire from heaven has not come down on the sacrifice to consume not just the all the parts of the bullock and the wood but the stones and the water and the dust when the fire fell it licked it all up and it put some good fear in the people and that's when god deals with the false prophets and that's when god restores israel to himself and they say serve the lord worship the lord your god and him only shall you serve we have to become worshippers of god before we can serve many of us want to do something for god when god has not done much for you allow the lord to have all of you to break you and reshape you and make you a vessel of honor and sanctify you and make you useful to the master and then you're prepared to help others until then it's just blah blah blah and noise it's just climbing gongs and banging cymbals and no love is produced because you've not endured the trials by fire that are to produce the patience and the kindness and the gentleness and the self-control and the pure love of god the pure juice that pure holy oil that pours forth from the heart of god into your heart to make you that beautiful free fragrance a fragrance of life to them that are perishing and a fragrance of death to them that are also suffering as you are and the lord give us revelation on these things would you betray jesus with a kiss this morning would you honor him with your lips while really tomorrow you have big plans to make money you're going to collect or maybe you've already collected and you're just being religious we can't serve god and money you're going to love one hate the other if your hope is in this world if you're seeking to make a kingdom in this life then you're going to suffer the loss of spiritual riches and you'll be left a spiritual pauper but if you'll surrender all to jesus all to him you freely give worldly pleasures all forsaken take me jesus make me that can you say it with a straight face and a clean conscience i surrender all with tears running down your face you say lord i'll bring you that thing i've been holding back lord i don't want to hold anything back from you have that away in jesus name