When Faith Is Tested
Notes
Transcript
2020 has been and will be a test of faith (school; riots; election)
2020 has been and will be a test of faith (school; riots; election)
If God is good, why doesn’t He overthrow evil? (Peter!)
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
Jesus responds: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Paradox: You lose everything by trying to gain the world, but you gain the world by losing everything
Paradox 1: You lose everything by trying to gain the world
Paradox 1: You lose everything by trying to gain the world
When faith is tested, we respond like Peter
When faith is tested, we respond like Peter
When faith is tested, we want God to do things our way
When faith is tested, we want God to do things our way
Peter wanted Jesus to be the undying, power-King: preaching, teaching, healing, miracles, set up a glorious world government
Flawed theology: if God really is God He would choose to work in the world in a way that doesn’t bring suffering & death
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Peter’s way is satanic. It is the way of power and success. It is the way of the world filled with violent men & sinful hearts
When faith is tested, we seek power & success
When faith is tested, we seek power & success
An attitude of: “The world should belong to me!” (Adam/Eve)
We give in to the way of the world when we pit ourselves against others, desire to be in charge, act in criticism, play comparison game, one-up each other, and filled with ambition
Christians might desire power & control for good intentions, but it is not the way of Jesus. (“The road to hell…is paved with good intentions!”)
God may not have in mind a president who has Christians’ best interests at heart, but suffering.
Satan’s advice: “Spare yourself the trouble of bearing the cross. When faith gets tested, gain power to gain the world.”
Seizing control & power ultimately results in the loss of faith & losing everything for eternity. If you can be powerful enough to gain the world, why do you need Christ?
Seizing control & power ultimately results in the loss of faith & losing everything for eternity. If you can be powerful enough to gain the world, why do you need Christ?
Trying to gain the world with power is a faith-killing endeavor, it’s a lost cause. You will destroy your faith for nothing.
Paradox 2: You gain the world by losing everything
Paradox 2: You gain the world by losing everything
When faith is tested, we take up our cross
When faith is tested, we take up our cross
Instead of demanding God do things our way, we let God do things His way: mysteriously, His way is through suffering & the cross
Instead of demanding God do things our way, we let God do things His way: mysteriously, His way is through suffering & the cross
Jesus rules the world by suffering for it
Jesus rules the world by being the willing victim of its violence
Jesus rules the world by paying for all of its sins himself
We are called to look at our own darkness within that desires power over others & deny that desire as something Jesus died for
Denying yourself means letting go of the idea that God’s way of working will conform to your expectations success & glory
So, we do the same. We take up our cross and follow Jesus. When faith is tested, we seek service & humility instead of power & control
So, we do the same. We take up our cross and follow Jesus. When faith is tested, we seek service & humility instead of power & control
Instead of attitude that says,“The world should belong to me!” it’s: “The world doesn’t belong to me, but to God. I don’t need to have power over the world. But I do have power to serve the world”
We serve the world not by building ourselves up for our good, but for the world's good. We rule the world by suffering as its servants.
To take up your cross means that you live every day by relinquishing control to God, even though it means suffering.
And Discipleship will mean suffering because God’s way of reigning in a rebellious world is by repaying evil with good.
Christians know the end of the story: Power grabs don’t do you any lasting good. All worldly power will ultimately crumble.
Christians know the end of the story: Power grabs don’t do you any lasting good. All worldly power will ultimately crumble.
That’s why we lose everything, because when you have nothing else, you’re left with Jesus, & Jesus is everything.
Christians know that suffering & the cross isn’t the end: we look forward to gaining the world in the new creation!
Christians know that suffering & the cross isn’t the end: we look forward to gaining the world in the new creation!
Because Jesus bore the cross only to rise & gain the whole world on Easter, when our faith is tested, we boldly bear our crosses, too.
Because Jesus bore the cross only to rise & gain the whole world on Easter, when our faith is tested, we boldly bear our crosses, too.