Motivation

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Motivation

07.23.06
various texts

Last week:

Satan’s Meeting
“Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause.”

“I realized that all the problems in my life came from my sense of being strong.”
Eight Steps From The Edge Of Hell, Sherry Pinson

2 Timothy 3:5 NLT
[In the last days people] will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that. They will go to church, yes, but they won’t really believe anything they hear. Don’t be taken in by people like that. LB

Disciple or Pretender

A disciple is anyone who makes the time, makes the sacrifices, and is devoted to sitting beneath the teaching and influence of Jesus.

A pretender is anyone who is devoted to ~ as shown by where they spend their time, resources, and what they’re willing to sacrifice ~ things the world says are important.

Sad, Sobering Statistics

• In the last 10 years in the Church of the Nazarene, 1502 new churches have been started, but 1501 churches have closed!
• The national average for evangelical churches: for every 100 converts, only 5 to 6 will still be in the church a year later.
– Of that 5 to 6, only 1 will go on to do what Jesus commanded all Christians to do just before His ascension:
… go and make disciples of all the nations…. Matthew 28:19-20 NLT

Questions:
• Am I a disciple or a pretender?
• Does the religion I claim cause me to act and react more, or less, like Jesus?

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Isaiah 58:1-5 Living Bible
Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins! 2 Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws – just as though they would obey them – just as though they don’t despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services!

3 “We have fasted before you,” they say. “Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear our prayers? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!” I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers. 4 Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5 Is this what I want – this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind and putting on sackcloth and coving yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting?
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As I was preparing for today’s message, a horrible revelation occurred to me:
When speaking from the Old Testament prophets, as the messenger I can expect to be treated as the Old Testament prophets were treated.

How’s that? To the religious elite Jesus said…

Luke 11:49-50 NLT
This is what God in his wisdom said about you: `I will send prophets and apostles to them, and they will kill some and persecute the others.' 50 "And you of this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God's prophets from the creation of the world….

And, just before he was murdered Stephen said to the same type of people…

Act 7:52 NLT

Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One--the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered.

Should I expect any different? Should any of God’s children expect any different?

Jesus told His disciples…

Matthew 10:24-25 NLT
"A student is not greater than the teacher. A servant is not greater than the master. 25 The student shares the teacher's fate. The servant shares the master's fate. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, how much more will it happen to you, the members of the household!”

But, that’s the cross I willingly bear – and in good company - having accepted God’s call to the preaching ministry.

The religious leaders, those who thought they were so spiritual, commanded the disciples…

Act 5:28-29 ESV
"We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.

Do I like conflict and pain? Of course not!
• Do I love God’s Truth? You bet!

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Having said that, let’s move on…

There’s an extremely significant question asked in Isaiah 58.

But, before we can appreciate the significance of this question, we need to understand some things about the people who were asking God this question.
Look at verse 2: NIV

For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways….

• I want to be a person who seems eager to know God’s ways.

Their church attendance was no doubt quite good; by all appearances these people were outstanding examples of faithfulness to God.
• They are described as people who seem eager for God to come near them.

Now to the question; do you know what it was/is?

Isaiah 58:3 ESV
'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?'

Fasting is a way to really emphasize our prayers to God.
• It’s one thing to pray; everybody prays, even non-Christian - pagans - pray.
• But when we’re really serious about getting God involved in a matter, that’s when people fast.

These people to whom God was speaking through the prophet Isaiah may have felt they had gone the extra mile in their pursuit of God when they fasted.
• But the tone of their question shows a high degree of frustration; “What does it take to get God to answer prayer? What do we have to do to get Him to intervene?”

In these folks’ minds they had done everything they were supposed to do.
• They went to church, they tithed, they were trying to teach their kids to live right, they followed the letter of the law.
• Why wasn’t it working?

God’s answer to their question went straight to the heart of the matter; God doesn’t beat around the bush.
• A good question to ask ourselves: Can I handle God’s level of honesty?
• There’s no sugar coating on God’s answer in verses 3 and 4.

Isaiah 58:3b-4 NLT
"I will tell you why! It's because you are living for yourselves even while you are fasting. You keep right on oppressing your workers. 4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.

They were doing the right religious things, even going so far as fasting.
• On the surface, it all looked very sincere. In fact those people were probably convinced they were doing everything they should do. But…

God’s eyes penetrate through the religious veneer. He sees what’s going on at the deepest heart level.

What does He see? He sees:
• … people who have a form of godliness.
• … people who are looking good on the surface.
• … people who are saying all the right things.

But, when it really gets down to it, He also sees that they only do exactly what they want to do.

• They live their lives the way they want to live.
• They do the churchy stuff, but when decisions are made and priorities set, those decisions and priorities are based not on what God wants but on what they want.

Ray Beeson asked me this simple question at the beginning of his time here a couple weeks ago:

“What percentage of your people would you say are truly committed to God?”
• I wanted to give him as accurate an answer as I could, so I asked myself, “If it came down to renouncing God or being killed, I think about 70-80% of our people are that committed to God.”
• He said, “That’s interesting; the average in America is closer to 20%.”

“But Pastor Jim, what did he mean by committed?”
• I don’t know.
• What I do know is that for the special services we had with Ray, an incredibly spiritually gifted Bible teacher and preacher, we had approximately 20% of our regular Sunday morning attendance. Ouch!

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What’s happening in the American church? Why isn’t the world being turned upside down the way in was in Acts?
• The answer is probably very similar to the answer God gave the people in Isaiah’s day…

A paraphrase of verse 3…

Yes, you’re religious, but you still do as you please.

Somehow these folks had managed to compartmentalize their lives.
• Monday through Friday was about making money.
• Saturday was about having fun.
• Sunday was the day to do some religious stuff to keep God happy.
– They were not treating people right in their business dealings or any of the other relationship in their lives, yet they couldn’t see why that was negating all their religious stuff.

In Isaiah 1 God tells His people:
• Verse 11 ~ "I am sick of your sacrifices,"
• Verse 12 ~ Why do you keep parading through my courts with your worthless sacrifices?
• Verse 16 ~ Wash yourselves and be clean! Let me no longer see your evil deeds. Give up your wicked ways.
• Verse 17 ~ Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows.

Was God wanting them to stop going to church? No!
• He was wanting them to continue to be the church when they went to their jobs, when they did business, and when they encountered the sufferings of people around them.

Back in Isaiah 58:4…

What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling?

• These people could not get along with each other. They were religious, but God help anybody that crossed them.

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The most fundamental issue of fasting, or prayer, or Bible study, or church involvement, etc.;

What motivates these actions?

The motives behind fasting are of infinitely greater importance than how long, or even what we fast.

Jesus addresses motive in Matthew 6:

Matthew 6:16-18 NLT
"And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then no one will suspect you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in secret. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you."

The issue is:
Why we fast, or do anything religious, in the first place?
• Is it for appearances, or are we sincerely humbling ourselves before God, genuinely desiring to know His will so we can do it?

“Our fasting doesn’t need to be any more secret than our giving or our praying. All of it needs to be free of pretense and a sincere pursuit of God.”

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Are you in a sincere pursuit of God today?