The Best Part of "Waking Up"

Thank you music team. Well done this morning.

Well, good morning Church! Good morning to those of you joining on the LIVE stream. We are glad you can be with us this morning.

Before we get into this, I want to take an couple minutes and tell you all about something that is happening in this church right now. I don’t know if you are aware. You may remember that a while back, Sean called us to to get together with one or two other people and simply read scripture together. Preferably with someone other than your spouse or someone you already know very well.

Some of you took that to heart and right now there are groups of people, two people, three people, couples getting together, other times, outside of our Sunday gathering and they are doing this very simple thing. Reading and discussing scripture. Nothing formal. Nothing complicated. No prep time necessary. Just get together over coffee or a snack and read scripture. And I am hearing stories of some pretty remarkable conversations and even friendships developing because of this simple activity. If you are not doing it. I want to encourage you to start. If you are doing it, keep doing it. Does this have anything to do with discipleship? I think it does. If nothing else, You could at least call it an ice breaker. An ice breaker it seems that is leading to deeper things. It accomplishes two things.

One you get to know the people of your church family better, and two, you get to read and discuss scripture in a very casual non threatening kind of way. No one needs to be a Bible scholar. You simply read the Word and let the Holy spirit work in your hearts in community. So if you are not getting together regularly with someone to read scripture, let me encourage you to do it. You will be blessed.

Okay. Lets get into this.

Introduction

Well we are in the fifth installment of our series we are calling “Disciple”

Now if you have been with us so far you know that we have spent some time looking at the cost of discipleship, the importance of counting the cost involved in being an apprentice to Jesus Christ and we have considered some questions that might help us determine if we are indeed disciples or not. We have spent some time “Beholding” the ONE to whom we intend to follow or become apprentices of, that being of course the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have challenged you all to think about and answer the question that Jesus posed to His original disciples, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Who IS this Jesus we claim to follow?

I also warned about the danger of following a Jesus of our own making, which often resemble ourselves, and encouraged you to go to the scriptures and look to what they say about Jesus and the claims He made about Himself.

Last week we talked about where we go in the day and age in which we live to find Jesus and spend time with Him.

The challenge there of course is that Jesus is no longer with us in the flesh. If you wee here last week then I hope you will recall that we talked about making a habit of spending time with Jesus in the “blank spaces” of our day. Those moments standing in line at the grocery store, or sitting at a traffic light, where instead of pulling out our phone we actually spend those moments contemplating Jesus and the things He has said to us.

Today I want to look a little further into this idea of spending time with Jesus. Being a disciple of someone is all about spending a great deal of time WITH them. We focused on the blank spots of our day last week. Those moments when we are standing in line or sitting at a traffic light and instead of pulling out your screen, spend a moment or two focused on Him.

But this morning I want to go back and revisit something I mentioned very briefly last week, and that is spending the first part of your day with Jesus.

This morning’s message title is” “The Best Part of “Waking Up”

If you are old like me, then that title may cause you to think of a coffee commercial. Not gonna talk about coffee today. I intentionally put the “waking up” part of the title in quotes because I want to spend some time this morning talking literally about what we do when we wake up in the morning. But I also want to talk about “waking up” to the things that keeps us from the reality of a Jesus that is indeed alive and well and closer to us than we often realize.

Folks. I want to say once again. We are talking about becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. We are talking about becoming involved in the disciple making process.

The longer I live, the more convicted and acutely aware I have become to a solid truth about this. There simply are no shortcuts to this endeavor. It takes time and it takes commitment. It will require you to step out of your comfort zone and it will most likely require you to make some adjustments to your life and schedule. If you are unwilling to invest yourself in becoming an apprentice of Jesus Christ, then it will not happen. If you are satisfied to come here once a week and read a few verses in your Bible , even every day, I just need to tell you as lovingly as I can, that just won’t be enough.

You say, “Man Hutch! I come to church every Sunday. I read my Bible and I pray every day. I serve at the church in the different ministries. I’m even getting together with someone like Sean asked us to and we are reading scripture together. I give financially to the ministries of this church. What more do you want from me?

Its not what I want that matters. It’s what the Lord wants that matters. And if we are honest, we might have to admit that there is something missing. Even doing all those things I just listed, there is still no fire. There is still a hole in your heart. Why? Because the one thing that we need to do most, the one thing that will bring the greatest joy and satisfaction and peace in our lives, is the one thing that we give the least amount of time to. And that is spending time WITH Him.

And folks, you could be doing ALL the things I just mentioned and none of that is what He REALLY wants from you. ALL good things. ALL things you should be doing. But none of those things are substitutes for spending quality time with Him. Because what He wants most form you is you. And the the reward for giving yourself wholly to Him is HIM.

And I am convinced that the thing that is keeping us apart from Him is the veil that still exists at the deepest level. Right there over our hearts. The veil that separates us. The veil that He died to take away.

And I have come to realize in my own life, and maybe by the time we are done today, you might recognize it in your life as well, and together we can take steps to draw closer to Him that we have ever been. THAT is what being a disciple is all about.

So let’s talk about this veil. If you are a Christian and you have been one for a while now, then I am going to share some things this morning that perhaps you have heard a hundred times or more. These are some basic truths of the Christian faith but oh do we need to hear them.

There are many sayings that come from our early church fathers but the one that I think absolutely applies here comes from Augustine who said, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee”

In a few words, Augustine clearly explains that hole in the heart I mentioned a few moments ago. We are living in a time of unprecedented worldwide discontent and unrest. And I believe, in the simplest of terms Augustine gives us the reason why.

We have this idea that we can find what we are looking for in the world, in its systems, in other people, in material things and wealth and any number of other things. But the simple truth is, God made us for Himself, and our hearts will remain restless until we find our rest in Him. If you are here this morning, or you are listening on the LIVE stream and you are convinced otherwise, then perhaps this message is not for you. If you are convinced that anything OTHER than spending time with Him, and learning to be like Him, and doing the things He did with our time and resources, is the way to go, then perhaps there is nothing I can say to you this morning that will matter.

But if you are here this morning , and there has ever been a time in your life where you were keenly aware of His presence, even for just a moment, a time when you were faced with overwhelming pain or difficulty and yet you sensed a peace in your heart that made no sense, and you want more of that, then maybe this message will encourage you to seek a much deeper walk with Him than ever before. If you have a longing in your heart to WAKE UP to the presence and fire of God in your life, then maybe this message IS for you.

The truth is, God formed us to live in close unhindered, uninterrupted relationship to Him. His intent was NEVER to have that relationship become a Sunday thing, or a “once in while when I have some spare time” thing. And yet sadly that is what it has become for many, even some in this room today.

The truth is, God meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile.`He meant for us to commune with Him both in contemplative silence as well as with our words of love and adoration and thankfulness to Him in prayer. And all those things I mentioned a moment ago, church attendance, serving in ministry, giving, reading the scriptures, are not that. Again. all good things. All things we SHOULD be doing but none of them are what God REALLY created us for.

We looked at those words of Jesus in John 15, where He said,

John 15:5 ESV - 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

And as we have been saying, this abiding cannot happen in the spare moments. We talked last week about spending time with Him in the blank spaces of our day. That is good. Certainly better than staring at a screen. But that is not abiding. Abiding is a place we live. It is where we are always present. That is what jesus has in mind with His words.

What we have done instead, is to fall for the oldest lie there is. The lie that something other than God will satisfy our hearts. And ever since the very first humans created by God were deceived by THIS lie, the whole work of God in redemption has been to undo the tragic effects of that deception, and to bring us back into a right and eternal relationship with Him. It required that our sins be disposed of, it required that a FULL reconciliation be effected, and it required a way be opened for us to return again into conscious communion with God. To be able to actually live in His presence once again. All of this was accomplished through the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is nothing left for us to do but walk through the veil that has been torn in two and commune with Him.

But we don’t do it. Why not? Maybe because we don’t believe that God has accomplished all that was required to restore our relationship with Him. That is the first step. When the Holy Spirit prompts a yearning heart with the truth of what Christ has done for them, and then responds.

Or perhaps, we just don’t know the internal journey required to be in His presence.

That journey that must take place within us is beautifully illustrated in the Old Testament Tabernacle.

In that structure, a returning sinner first entered into the outer court where he offered a blood sacrifice on the brazen alter and washed himself in the laver that stood nearby. Then he passed through a veil into the holy place where no natural light could come, but the golden candlestick which spoke of Jesus, the “Light of the World”, threw it soft glow over the room. There was also in that chamber, shewbread which represented Jesus as the “Bread of Life”, and the alter of incense, its rising plume of smoke a picture of unceasing prayer…abiding.

All of this was good and to be enjoyed by the believer, but he had not yet entered the presence of God. Another “Veil” separated from the inner room or the Holy of Holies where, above the mercy seat dwelt God Himself in both an awful and glorious manifestation.

While the tabernacle stood, only the High Priest could enter this room, and he could only do THAT once a year. He would enter with blood that he offered for his sins and for the sins of the people. It was this last veil, which was torn in two, from top to bottom, when the Lord gave up the ghost on Calvary. And many passages in Scripture make it clear that the tearing of that veil in two, opened the way for every worshipper in the world to come by the new and living way straight into the divine presence of God.

Beloved, do we really understand the significance of this today?

Now, lets talk about that second veil, the one between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

This veil, signified that man was separated from God by sin. As I said, only the High Priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once a year, to enter God’s presence and make atonement for all of Israels sins.

When Jesus died, the veil was torn, and God moved out of that place never again to dwell in a temple made with human hands (Acts 17:24).

Turn with me to Acts 17 and listen as the Apostle Paul speaks to this truth as he addressed the people of Athens.

Act 17:24-28 ESV - 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

God was through with that temple and its religious system, and the temple and Jerusalem were left “desolate” (destroyed by the Romans) in A.D. 70, just as Jesus prophesied in Luke 13:35. As long as the temple stood, it signified the continuation of the Old Covenant. Hebrews 9:8-9 refers to the age that was passing away as the new covenant was being established (Hebrews 8:13). In a sense, the veil was symbolic of Christ Himself as the only way to the Father (John 14:6).

Jhn 14:6 ESV - 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Many paths to Jesus, only one way to the Father and salvation.

This is indicated by the fact that the high priest had to enter the Holy of Holies through the veil. Now Christ is our superior High Priest, and as believers in His finished work, we partake of His better priesthood. We can now enter the Holy of Holies through Him.

The profound significance of the tearing of the veil is explained in glorious detail in Hebrews. The things of the temple were shadows of things to come, and they all ultimately point us to Jesus Christ. He was the veil to the Holy of Holies, and through His death the faithful now have free access to God. In fact, turn with me if you will to ..

Heb 10:19-22 ESV - 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Because of Christ we have already passed through the Holy place and have been washed clean so that at anytime, anywhere we can enter into the Holy of Holies. And look at the invitation we see in verse 22 Heb 10:22 ESV - 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,...

The veil in the temple was a constant reminder that sin renders humanity unfit for the presence of God. The fact that the sin offering was offered annually and countless other sacrifices repeated daily showed graphically that sin could not truly be atoned for or erased by mere animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ, through His death, has removed the barriers between God and man, and now we may approach Him with confidence and boldness

Heb 4:14-16 ESV - 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Again we see the invitation to draw near. So scripture over and over invites us to draw near to the Lord. And I submit to you this morning that this is no mere word picture to help us imagine being near to Jesus. I submit that it is actually possible to consciously draw near and spend time with and commune with the same God who dwelt in the ancient tabernacle in the Holy of Holies. To enter into that Holy of Holies any time you endeavor to do so. This is not some magical, mystical fantasy thing. God would never invite us to such trivia as that.

But there is still something that hinders us. even though Jesus has done this remarkable work on our behalf, for some reason we still remain in the outer court.

With the veil removed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, with nothing on God’s side to prevent us from entering, why do we remain outside? Why do we not sit and bask in His presence that is now completely open and available to us? Why do we settle to spend all of our days just outside the Holy of Holies and never venture in to look upon God?

We have seen these invitations to draw near and yet we maintain a distance. And the years pass and we grow older and colder and very tired in the outer courts of the tabernacle. What is this perceived “veil” that is stopping us?

It is something more serious than the coldness of our hearts. It is the thing that causes that coldness. It is self. The veil that still exists over our hearts that prevents us from entering in. It is self that we have allowed to live on. That we have refused to crucify once and for all.

The Apostle Paul said in..

Gal 2:20 ESV - 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Something in us has to die. Something has to be crucified with Christ and Paul tells us what it is. It is self. Paul I have been crucified. I no longer live.

To be more specific, it is self-righteousness, it is self-pity, it is self-confidence, self sufficiency, self admiration, self-love. All the things the world says should be honored and nurtured and revered but the Word of God says must be nailed to the cross and crucified with Christ. These are the very things that make up the veil over our hearts. Self can march into this place every Sunday morning alive and well and prevent us from any kind of encounter with God.

Beloved, self is the veil we must wake up to. And we have to be careful that we are not just playing games with our inner life hoping that we can tear this particular veil from top to bottom. But, just like the veil between the Holy place and the Holiest place, this veil must be torn by Jesus Himself. He must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. Our part is to confess, forsake and repudiate the self-life and then reckon it crucified. It will be a painful process but it will be worth the cost. You and I were bought at a very very very high price. Our life is no longer our own. Self has no home here any more. Our new home is in Him and it is there we must abide. Amen?

So how do we do it? Well first of all we must intentionally decide that being His apprentice takes priority over everything else, especially those self life sins.

But practically how do we enter into this holy of holies and spend time with Him. Well we got a bit of a clue back in Acts 17 and verse 27 when Paul said that God created us for a very specific purpose...

27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

So a couple things I notice here. It says we should seek God but look what else. That if we seek, we will actually find him. He is not hiding and we do not have to simply rely on our imaginations. We were created to seek Him AND to find Him. Remember what out friend Augustine said? “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee”

And He has made it as easy as He could possibly make it for us to spend time with Him. No more temples, no more blood sacrifices, no more veils.

Seek and ye shall find. Seek and ye shall find.

The second thing I see in this Acts Passage is it says Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

Do you see the implication? Wherever you and I are, there He is as well. No longer do we have to find a special location to meet with and commune with God. He is, as we said last week, as close to us as we are.

Okay. So the way has been provided. The invitation has been issued. God is waiting and available to meet with His own. The only thing preventing this communion is us.

Jesus also gave us some practical guidance here.

Mat 6:5-8 ESV - 5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

So it seems a quiet and isolated place is best. Jesus says duck into a closet of you have to! But also what strikes me here is that we should ease up on all the big fancy Christian buzz words and just talk to Him, with a reverent heart to be sure but, also, like we would a close friend.

But here is the thing folks. We cannot approach this as a once in a while spare time thing. What I am talking about here is a much different kind of praying. What we really need to do is make meeting with Him a habit. I don’t mean that to sound too worldly but the truth is, if we don’t make communing with God a regular and consistent habit, it will not happen.

So I am going to wrap this up by giving you all an assignment. Let’s talk practically about the best part of waking up tomorrow morning.

When you first wake up in the morning where does your mind naturally go? Is your phone the first thing you look at in the morning? Try this tomorrow morning. Get up early. I know, I lost half of you right there! How early? I will leave that up to you. You will need time alone and in solitude. You say, I can’t do that. I’ve got kids and wife and a job that are all hollering at me first thing in the morning. Then beat them all to the punch. If things start rockin at your house around 6, get up at 5. If things start kicking off a t 5, get up at 4.

You say, but, I don’t go to bed until 10! Go to bed when you put your kids to bed. If that is 8 pm, you go to bed at 8 pm. by 4 0r 5 o’clock you have had 8 or 9 hours of sleep. That’s enough.

By the way, if you have no kids at home, you have zero excuses!

My point is, do whatever it takes to carve out some uninterrupted time in a place of solitude. A closet if you must.

But don’t get out your Bible and pens and highlighters and journal just yet. Try this first. This is going to seem strange and perhaps a little awkward at first but try this. Just sit and contemplate God’s love for you for a while. That’s it. Don’t read. Don’t write. don’t have your phone anywhere near you. Just sit. And let His love wash over you. Caffinate if you have to to stay awake but just contemplate God’s love for you. Think about all that He has done to make it possible for you to enter into that Holy place with Him and just sit.

Because here is the thing. I think we spend too much time imagining God’s love and not enough time experiencing it. And the problem is the love we imagine is nowhere near the real thing.

This simple, uncomplicated act has the potential to transform our inner life and heal our deepest wounds in ways that more Bible study, more church attendance and more therapy cannot possibly touch.

PLEASE do not hear me say those things are not important. They definitely are. But what we really need above all else right now is to experience God’s love for us.

It was the very thing Paul prayed for the Ephesian church.

Eph 3:16-19 ESV - 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Let me ask you something. Do you think the Apostle Paul would have prayed and asked for the impossible on behalf of His brothers and sisters? It sounds to me like Paul is asking for his brethren something He had already apprehended. And look at verse 19 again.

19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, SO that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul was no intellectual slouch. But He was also aware of the limitations of our minds. Just knowing ABOUT the love of God is not enough. We have to KNOW the love of God. As a matter of fact, the word Paul uses here for “Know” is the Greek Word “ginosko” Ghen-oce-ko and it means a relational knowing. A knowing of someone by spending time with them. A personal knowledge of someone due to extended periods of time spent with that person.

I know my wife Donna Kaye better that anyone else here today. Why? Because i live with her. I abide with her. I spend more time around her than any other human being on the planet. I know her in a very relational way. That is the knowing that Paul is talking about here

So to get to know the love of Christ for you will require more than one session tomorrow morning. It needs to be a regular and consistent time spent.

Now what will most likely happen during this time tomorrow morning is your mind will eventually go to thoughts of unworthiness and you may start recounting all of the sins you committed today. That’s O.K. Go ahead and sit in that sin and let God love you. I don’t mean keep on sinning and ignore your guilt. What I mean is, when you sin, and you will, don’t hide it from God. instead hold it before God, with no excuses and no blame shifting and no denial. Just sit in utter vulnerability and let God love you as you are. and then let God love you into who you have the potential to become.

I get it. This is a very different kind of prayer than most of us are used to. No word spoken . No requests made. No looking to get anything from God. Just sit with Him looking at you in love.

This is contemplative prayer. Something most people never do. It is a deeper level of prayer. It will require you to go to that deeper innermost part of yourself. But guess who you will meet there? This is precisely where His Spirit dwells in each born again believer. It is if you will, the new covenant tabernacle. That is where you will truly find Him.

So, I encourage you to give it a try.

Let me close with this passage from 2 Corinthians chapter 3, beginning in verse 12.

2Co 3:12-18 ESV - 12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Amen. So, the best part of waking up could be a personal encounter with the living God of the universe where you look at Him with love, looking at you with love. Can’t think of a better way to start the day. We’ll talk more about this next week. I look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Let’s pray...