Five Things
that Hinder Our Joy
Revelation 3:14-17
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
29 August, 2010 PM
I.
Introduction
(Contrast Rev 3:14-17 with
A.
I wish we all believed that
verse! I find it hard sometimes, so I know there must be others who find it
hard as well!
B.
But Jesus tells us to Rejoice –
to be of GOOD CHEER – in the face of any and all tribulation we may be going
through
C.
I want to introduce you to five
miserable people in the Bible, some of which were saved and going to heaven.
No doubt you know people like this. I’ve known plenty. Well, here in this
Book are provided for us an examination of both why they were miserable, and
the answers to their misery.
D.
A man once said, “If a man’s
salvation has not made him glad, it has made him nothing at all!”
E.
I believe learning from these
five miserable people can help us, and our own attitudes. The five kinds of
miserable people are:
1.
Those who are unsure of their
Salvation
2.
Those who are undisciplined in
Prayer
3.
Those who are unseparated from
Sin
4.
Those who are unwilling to
witness for the Lord
5.
Those who are uncertain of the
Will of God for their life
II.
Message -
Five Miserable
People in Churches Today
A.
The Person
Unsure of His Salvation is Miserable
– Thomas (
1.
Here was Thomas – one of the
twelve disciples of Jesus the Messiah
a.
Supposed to be a “believer,” yet
was quite unsure Jesus was even alive after the crucifixion – just never
settled the facts in his heart!
b.
Should have been the happiest man
alive – that His Lord was alive, and had conquered sin and death – oh man,
if anyone should have been excited, Thomas should have been
c.
But he was miserable – hiding
away up in an upper room, unsure of anything that Jesus spoke about now –
why?
2.
Many people are miserable
because:
a.
There is
no change
in their life (2 Cor 5:17) - Needs to evaluate his salvation experience, and
see if he or she was “just praying a prayer” or if they are really
repenting, and trusting completely in Christ!
b.
There is
no supernatural love
for other Christians in their heart (1
c.
There is
no chastisement
in their walk (Heb 12:6-8). If you see yourself getting away with a lot of
sin right now, it ought to make you wonder – make you afraid! You will
always be miserable until your eternity is settled and in Christ’s hands!!!
3.
People Confuse Spiritual
Awakening with Conversion.
a.
People feel that since they care
about going to church, and are interested in the Bible, and they love their
neighbour, they must be a Christian
b.
But that is just spiritual
awareness, that is not conversion – the changing of the person
c.
People are trusting their own
“spiritual-ness” instead of Jesus Christ
d.
They end up in hell with the
devil!
e.
Let’s look at what the Bible says
about “Conversion”.
1)
God’s word was written to CONVERT
the soul (Psalm 19:7)
2)
All sinners need to be
“converted” unto God (Psalm 51:12,13)
3)
Conversion involves starting all
over and becoming like a little child again (Mt 18:3) – that’s why it is
called being Born Again!
4)
Even the Apostle Peter needed
conversion (Lk 22:32). He was a follower, but not changed
5)
All the efforts of Paul and the
Christians in the Bible was directed at one goal (Act 15:3) – the
Conversion of the Gentiles
6)
Conversion is a complete
Transformation (Isa 51:3). God compares what He was going to do to the
desert, to what He wanted to do to the heart
4.
Spiritual Awakening is only the
first step (Acts 26:17,18)
a.
Look at the process of a person’s
spiritual awakening:
1)
People’s eyes have to be opened –
they are blind by nature
2)
People have to be redirected from
darkness to light
3)
And they have to be informed that
they can be free from the power of Satan (puppeteer) to the power of God
4)
ALL so that they can be given the
forgiveness of sins, and an eternal inheritance in heaven
b.
The first three steps are all
part of spiritual awakening
c.
That last step is the receiving
of the free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23)
d.
The problem occurs when a person
becomes spiritually aware of things, and becomes concerned about spiritual
things, but never gets converted
e.
Everything in a person’s life up
to the time of their salvation is leading them to something called
“repentance” – not penance,
but a determined change of heart towards God
f.
The sad things is, most people
only get on the train of religion, but never find Jesus as their Saviour!
g.
In simple terms:
1)
Spiritual Awakening is an
awareness that you need God
2)
Conversion is a complete change,
a transformation BY God
3)
Awakening
is when a person begins to think they should start living better, or stop
sinning, or go back to church, hug their wife and kids, put the drink down,
start tithing, saying their prayers again, obeying the speed limit, etc.
4)
Conversion
is when a person is transformed from the inside out – changed BY the
presence of God in their life (2Cor 5:17) – not by your own will power
5.
The Answer rests in
settling your eternity on:
a.
The written
words of God.
1)
What does God say? - not your
emotions! “I don’t feel anything,” or, “I don’t agree with your opinion,” or
whatever is your reasoning! Find out what God said to do, and then, by faith
alone, DO IT!!! Trusting that only GOD’S ways work!
2)
What did Jesus promise you and
me? Believe it, and live it!
b.
The FINISHED
WORK of Jesus Christ
- no longer YOUR work! Believe that His blood completely paid for your sins!
c.
A Christian is sure of heaven
because of Christ – period!
B.
The Person
Undisciplined in Prayer is Miserable
- King Saul (1Sam
14:36-37)
1.
One of the ingredients to Saul’s
downfall was an undisciplined prayer life
2.
King Saul was an awful king. His
attitude towards God and towards others was dreadful – just wanted to kill
David for the last 7 years of his life.
3.
He only prayed at desperate times
– never developed a “walk with God”
a.
He was
Lazy in his prayer life. Not a
priority – never see him up early (Psalm 5:3) to pray like David, and Christ
was!
b.
He was
Last minute in his prayer life –
always in final desperation!
c.
He was
Lost for words in his prayer life
– didn’t really want to fellowship (open up his heart) with God. Just going
through the motions (1Sam 15:22-31)
4.
We were created to
walk with God,
and to fellowship with Him. It is in our nature to lean upon God. It is when
we do not fulfil our design, that we become very miserable. The opposite to
King Saul was King David!
5.
What should the Christian’s walk
with God be like?
a.
A regular prayer time each
morning – set aside, and protected – people do meditation, and mental
techniques: A Christian PRAYS!
b.
A moment by moment choice to seek
wisdom and strength from God
c.
A constant attitude of praise and
thankfulness towards God for EVERYTHING – communing with God throughout the
day, and night
d.
A desire to pray with everyone
about EVERYTHING
1)
When someone is ill – take time
out to pray first off – even when they have run out of faith!
2)
When things are going wrong, take
time to pray, right then
3)
When things are great, stop and
pray and praise God
6.
When we are undisciplined in our
prayer life, then our overall life will be miserable! Mark it down!
7.
Prayer changes things! Especially
your view on life!
C.
The Person
Unseparated from Sin is Miserable
(1Cor 5:11)
1.
Two Examples: Lot (2 Pet 2:7,8),
and Solomon (1Kgs 11:2)
a.
They were Miserable because they
lost fellowship with God
b.
They were Miserable because they
lost your family (Ps 106:35-37)
c.
They were Miserable because they
lost your power (2Tim 2:21).
2.
Who would want to spend their
Christian life constantly grieving, hindering, quenching, and frustrating
the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives?
a.
It was the power of the Holy
Spirit that enabled Jesus to defeat every enemy, and have joy in the face of
such opposition – it will only be the same with you!
b.
It was the power of sin that
ruined the wisest man ever
3.
Sin will only ruin you (Romans
6:23a; Jam 1:15; Josh 6:7,8)! May be fun for a while, but in the end, it
will leave you ruined (Pr 20:17)
4.
Do you want to know why some of
you are miserable and yet on your way to heaven? Because your sin is more
important to you than God!
D.
The Person
Unwilling to Witness for the Lord is Miserable
– Jeremiah (Jer 20:7-9; Romans 10:11)
1.
The person who has been
born-again, and invited the God and Saviour of this universe into their
hearts, will find it very hard NOT to open their mouths and tell somebody
about it! They will have to work VERY hard to keep quiet… if they are saved!
2.
We have bought the lie of the
devil that we will be better off if we just keep our mouths shut about our
relationship with Jesus
3.
Jeremiah teaches us – you only
will be miserable
a.
All of his witnessing had only
gotten him in trouble
b.
But the minute he stopped passing
on God’s words to the people, he became REALY miserable – worse off
4.
The happiest Christian alive is
the one who has a clear conscience, and clean hands (Acts 26:2) – clean from
the blood of their family, and their neighbours, and their co-workers. To
have done what we know must be done releases us from guilt and shame (see
Peter’s misery after he has denied knowing Jesus 3 times)!
E.
The Person
Uncertain of the Will of God is Miserable
– Martha (Lk 10:38-42)
1.
Martha just had at least 13 grown
men show up at her home unexpectedly. It was evening, and she clearly didn’t
know what to do for them. She begins running around her kitchen trying to
put together a feast, and wearing herself
out – and then Jesus helps her see that there was only one thing
needful at that moment – get close to Him!
2.
Sometimes, we are uncertain of
God’s will, and unsure what our next steps should be in life.
a.
We were sure of God’s will that
we repent and get saved
b.
We were sure of God’s will that
we learn this Bible
c.
But we may not be all that sure
of whether God has a mate for us, or just what job to get into, or whether
we should move here or there so to speak
3.
They key is in knowing what God
has clearly defined as right to do, and make sure that we are busy doing
those things – and only then will we see His hand in directing our lives
toward the other things
4.
What is God’s clearly defined and
expressed will? It is called, “walking the
a.
That everyone, everywhere repent,
and ask Jesus to save them – the will of God for your life
b.
That everyone, everywhere get
baptized and join up with a Bible-believing church
c.
That everyone, everywhere witness
the gospel to everyone, everywhere
d.
That everyone, everywhere be
filled with the Holy Spirit
e.
That everyone, everywhere be
thankful for everything
f.
That everyone, everywhere be
servants
g.
That everyone, everywhere suffer
through every trial as CHRISTIANS
5.
You get those things in motion
(not just sitting there), and I
guarantee that you will find yourself in God’s time, right in
the middle of God’s will, with the right mate, working at the right job,
with the greatest peace of heart imaginable!
III.
Conclusion –
A.
Thomas was
Unsure of His Salvation, and was Miserable.
He (like many of us) was miserable because:
1.
There is
no change
in his life (2 Cor 5:17)
2.
There is
no supernatural love
for other Christians in his heart
3.
There is
no chastisement
in his walk (Heb 12:6-8).
4.
Check what you are trusting in
B.
King Saul was
Undisciplined in Prayer, and was Miserable.
1.
Miserable because he was:
a.
Lazy in his prayer life. Not a
priority
b.
Last minute in his prayer life
c.
Lost for words in his prayer life
– didn’t really want to fellowship (open up his heart) with God. Just going
through the motions
2.
What should be the Christian’s
walk with God?
a.
A regular prayer time each
morning – set aside, and protected
b.
A moment by moment choice to seek
wisdom and strength from God
c.
A constant attitude of praise and
thankfulness towards God for EVERYTHING – communing with God throughout the
day, and night
d.
A desire to pray with everyone
about EVERYTHING
C.
Lot and
Solomon were Unseparated from Sin, and were Miserable.
1.
Miserable because they lost
fellowship with God
2.
Miserable because they lost their
family (Ps 106:35-37)
3.
Miserable because they lost their
power (2Tim 2:21).
D.
Jeremiah was
briefly Unable to Witness for the Lord, and was Miserable.
The happiest Christian alive is the one who has a clear conscience, and
clean hands – clean from the blood of their family, and their neighbours,
and their co-workers. To have done what we know must be done releases us
from guilt and shame (see Peter’s misery after he has denied knowing Jesus 3
times)!
E.
Martha was
Uncertain of the Will of God, and was Miserable.
1.
Don’t wear yourself out only
doing what you THINK is good
2.
Do the will of God – you know,
the will that you don’t want to do!
3.
You will never be happier!
F.
How about YOU?