26 Jan No Illusion About Comfort In This Life
Pastor Vincent - 3 October 2013
The Way Of Evangelism: Christ Convictions
Conviction means a believing heart, and it's the prayer of a convicted remnant that mobilizes angels to work. Convictions come from deep prayers as you confirm the truth and inscribe it unto your heart, so that it can be the strength in your heart and give you the ability to do the good in you. Convictions come from the the many unresolving problems in your life that drives you to have the continual need to turn to God and be comforted by His truth, again and again. Conviction comes when you train yourself to live before God, not man. And very importantly, conviction certainly comes through brethren living. After crossing the Jordan river, God made Joshua circumcised the people before the enemy, in a state which the Israelites were so vulnerable and could be easily attacked by the enemy. What does it tell us? Be afraid of not your enemy (problems); rather, be really afraid when your heart is stolen by the enemy. Even before the storm, before the big and challenging problems, God was more concerned with His people's circumcision than fighting the war. God has every ability to fight and win the war and give His people the promised land, but the reason why He wanted them circumcised is to set them apart and put His covenant in their hearts first - their identity, their purpose of living, and that they must not forget the works of the Lord in their lives. Live as one circumcised, be convicted by the truths.
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It is a false illusion to have comfort as the goal of our life.
<Acts 1:8> But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
<Luke 12:16-21> 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
How did the rich fool violate God?
Forget God’s Grace in all his successful endeavors
Live with the sole intention for comfort
<Luke 12:48>: From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Violate the sanctity of his existence
<Acts 17:26-27>: From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
The need to labor in this life
To enjoy rest and be equipped for greater works as we labor
The mystery of “laboring” in Christ
<Ecclesiastes 2:22-23> What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
<Genesis 2:15> The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
<1 Corinthians 15:10> You see, he works harder not because he was hoping for a better life after that. But he works harder because of the grace of God that is in him.
<Colossians 3:23-24> Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Some things to labor through:
(1) Spend set apart time in the Word of God.
(2) Attend a cell group and be involved.
(3) Be deliberate and grasp opportunity for evangelism.
Reflection
1. How has our mentality about “laboring to stop laboring” been challenged through what is preached?
Has that been our mentality?
2. How did the Parable of the Rich Fool speak to you?
3. What is the most laborious thing for you in your life? Why do you think God is bringing you through such labor？
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