A few years ago we did a series...

... on Sunday mornings called “Fully Devoted” and just as a reminder I want to share a few things with you to stir up your heart again for the church. Whether you realize it or not we need each other. The new converts on the Day of Pentecost were transformed by the power of Holy Spirit baptism but they needed an ongoing experience that would carry them thru. Acts 2:4243 (NIV) “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” They devoted themselves (dedicated themselves) to the Word, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

Can I be so bold to say to you today that if you are going to survive in these end times and if you are going to thrive as a believer, it will be because you are fully devoted to these things in the context of the local church. We have committed ourselves to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God because we know that is what will change your lives and give you direction. We have made it possible for you to be in fellowship with others who can encourage you but if you do not show up...we are limited on how we can help. We break bread together in the context of the Lord’s supper or communion but we also provide Connect Groups to break bread in a casual setting. When we are together we have the privilege of praying for each other and seeing God work miracles.

The verses in our text said that when we do these things many wonders and miraculous signs will be done. Again, it is in the context of being here at Life Church hearing the Word, having fellowship together, breaking bread together, and praying together. Who doesn’t want God to do miracles and wonders?  My exhortation to you is to “jump in” and be fully devoted to God and His house and watch your lives begin to change!

Trusting Our Emotions or Trusting God - 2

Trusting Our Emotions or Trusting God - 2

Subject: Battling Our Emotions When a Test Comes

by Rick Welborne

Luke 14:16-24 (NLT2)
¹⁶  Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations.
¹⁷  When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’
¹⁸  But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’
¹⁹  Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’
²⁰  Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’
²¹  “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
²²  After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’
²³  So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.
²⁴  For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” 

Mark 8:34-38 (NKJV)
³⁴  When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
³⁵  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.
³⁶  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
³⁷  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
³⁸  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

--Last week we looked at how fear can be such a battle in our lives…basically, how the enemy can come in like a flood and attempt to overwhelm us. We do not have to succumb to fear but choose to trust in God.

2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NKJV)
⁶  Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
⁷  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

--We talked about how important it was that when fear was attacking we must worship in Spirit and in truth, we must be filled or re-filled with Holy Spirit, and we must be still and hear that still small of voice! God’s voice!

--I love the fact that Paul in addressing Timothy about fear tells him to stir up the gift of God which is in you (Holy Spirit) and realize that spirit of fear did not come from God. The One nullifies the other.

--The verse in Isaiah 59 where it says when the enemy comes in like a flood…the Spirit will raise a standard against him…most other translations say it like this in the NLT:

Isaiah 59:19 (NLT2)
¹⁹  In the west, people will respect the name of the LORD; in the east, they will glorify him. For He (the Spirit) will come like a raging flood tide driven by the breath of the LORD. 

--Today I want us to continue this series on Trusting Our Emotions or Trusting God. Today we will look at our personal feelings or impressions verses what the Word of God says.

1. Trusting our personal feelings or impressions or trusting the Word of God.

--Years ago a lady came to me and told me her plans to divorce her husband and to go back to a previous husband. I told her that biblically she could not do that.

--I even read to her the scriptures that said what she would be doing would be an abomination unto the Lord. She said to me…I agree that is what the Bible says but I also know what the Lord spoke to me.

--I asked her if she truly believed that God would tell her to do something that was contrary to His Word and her answered blew me away…Evidently, because I know God’s voice and this was God!

--To me this is an example of how people let their personal feelings (actually desires) have precedence over the Word of God. We want what we want so much, we convince ourselves we are hearing from God.

--If you did not know this, there are sixteen fundamental truths in the A/G. The first of these truths is “1. The Scriptures Inspired”. This is number one and not up for debate.

1. The Scriptures Inspired - The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NKJV)
¹⁵  and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
¹⁶  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
¹⁷  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NIV)
¹³  And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NKJV)
²⁰  knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
²¹  for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

--Poor God gets blamed for so many things…some I have heard…God told me to marry this person, God told me to go to California and start a ministry, God told me to buy this house I can’t afford. 

--I can remember as a single youth pastor having ladies in the church coming up behind as I prayed for others and praying for me…they would tell me God told them I was going to marry their daughters…show me a pic!

--So much abuse has happened in the body of Christ because of these feelings, impressions, or desires. A word is given to someone because someone thinks they have heard from God on your behalf.

--From someone who loves you…before you make a major decision based on a word given to you by someone in church or at a conference…let God confirm it to your heart and in His Word. Proceed with caution.

--We struggle so much when we deal with people who we perceive to be spiritual, that when they give us a word we know is wrong to confront them. Or if their last three words proved not to be true.

--You have my personal permission and blessings to tell them “no thanks!” I do not want someone speaking into my life who is just speaking their feelings and do not have the heart or mind of the Lord. Tell your pastor!

--Pastor, are you saying that God does not speak directly to the heart and that all impressions or feelings are false and unreliable? Of course not, Holy Spirit wants to communicate with us daily. 

--So many believers are so immature and cannot distinguish between God’s voice and other voices. Our selfishness makes us desire things contrary to God’s Word. Easy to hear what you already want!

--An easy rule to follow…No matter how much you think God has spoken to you, if God’s Word has already said “No!” the answer is still no! It wasn’t Him speaking. 

2. Be careful of the downward spiral that leads to false impressions and feelings.

--This week I received this article from One News Now…a very strong Christian based news organization that keeps believers informed about current events in our world…article “The Revoice Conference and the danger of a big theological tent.”

--The first indication that this conference was going to be biased was the fact that certain strong conservative Christians were turned away. It was promoted as being open to everyone’s views but that was not true.

--Dr. Michael Brown also said that it was promoted as supportive to Christian biblical marriage and that they agree that the bible is clear about its stand when it comes to homosexuality. Sounds good doesn’t it:

Brown: Collins has even stated that "Sexual desire for someone of the same sex is sinful and something that I should repent from." So, Collins and others involved in Revoice have stated explicitly that they believe that marriage as established by God is exclusively heterosexual, and they agree that homosexual practice is sinful. This is highly significant and should be loudly and openly commended.

--Collins then lets his true agenda come out…we are here to figure out how to (as the church) be acceptable to people who have same sex attraction and gender confusion. One of the workshops at this conference,

Redeeming Queer Culture - "Christians have often discarded the virtues of queer culture along with the vices, which leaves culturally connected Christian sexual minorities torn between two cultures, two histories, and two communities."

--Torn between two cultures , two histories, and two communities…The Word of God has never presented to us this idea of being torn between the two…He wants us to come out from among them and be separate.

Mark 8:34 (NKJV)
³⁴  When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

--How do we get to the point where we feel that God has spoken and is okay with our lifestyle that is contrary to His Word? I am speaking of heterosexual sin as well as homosexual sin. There is a downward spiral.

Romans 1:21-25 (NKJV)
²¹  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
²²  Professing to be wise, they became fools,
²³  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
²⁴  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
²⁵  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

--Listen to your pastor…when you get to this point in your journey with God (they knew God) you are opening yourself up to hear voices other than God’s. You will hear voices and truly believe that it is God.

--This is why Christians can sleep around and mess around and come to church lifting up their hands like everything is alright. They believe they have heard God and everything is okay! God knows my heart!

--They say things like this…God knows how I feel and He knows the desires of my heart…I am delighting in Him and He is giving me my desires. It’s my time to be happy. Not if it contrary to His Word! We live like there are no consequences to this downward spiral and this willful disobedience to God’s Word.

Romans 1:26-32 (NKJV)
²⁶  For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
²⁷  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
²⁸  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
²⁹  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
³⁰  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
³¹  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
³²  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

--Again I want to reiterate that I am not just speaking about those in the homosexual lifestyle…I am speaking about those who are disobedient to God’s Word and go with their desires, passions, and feelings.

--God gave them up to vile passions and because they did not retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things that are not right. The downward spiral is deceiving and deadly.

--So you will know this is not just about the sin of homosexuality, look at this list of sins caused by this downward spiral:

²⁹  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
³⁰  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
³¹  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 

3. We must trust God!

Romans 1:21 (NKJV)
²¹  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

--How do we reverse this downward spiral and learn to trust God? Because I know God, I glorify Him! Because I know Him, I am filled with thanksgiving.

--Because I know God, my thoughts, my feelings, my impressions are biblical because I have the mind of Christ. Because I know God, my heart is enlightened and filled with wisdom!

Ephesians 1:17-19 (NIV)
¹⁷  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
¹⁸  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
¹⁹  and his incomparably great power for us who believe…

In Matthew 18:15 17 (NLT)...

... “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.  But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.”  

So what was the context of these verses that Jesus was talking about?  Jesus had just given the parable of the lost sheep and how we leave the 99 to find the one: He says: Matthew 18:14 (NLT) “In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.” Jesus was concerned that the two spoken of, work out their differences. He points out the need and the purpose of these verses is for there to be reconciliation and healing of the relationship...you talk about challenging your leadership skills.

1. Jesus says for there to be reconciliation there must be communication. Going to and communicating with the person directly will cut through the bull (believing unbelievable little lies) and help to resolve the situation.

2. Jesus says for there to be reconciliation there must be cooperation. If we truly gather in His Name, there should be no divisions among us and there should be a willingness and cooperation to resolve things quickly.  This is the sign of a true Christian leader.

3. Jesus says for there to be reconciliation there must be restoration.  The goal of these verses is for there to be restoration...restoration with the boss and the employee, restoration with the husband and wife, restoration of pastor and church member. True Christian leadership strives toward unity and restoration and the different translations say it this way: you have gained your brother...you have won that person back...you've made a friend. Life Church, be biblical in your relationships and be restored.