Don’t Go Alone!

Today is a special day for every person here! It is especially important to God. What is today? Today is the Day of Atonement. What is that you may ask? We will answer that question in just a moment. First, I’d like to ask you a question:

If someone asked you, “What is the most important thing in your life?” what would you say? Family? Friends? Success? Your faith? What is it? If we expand that question and ask: “What is the most important thing in this world?” what would you say? Would you answer be the same? Would it still be about your success? Your family? Your faith? Or would it be that every person hears about Jesus and has the opportunity to receive Him as Lord? What if that question was expanded one more time, to life in general. If the question was posed as, “What is the most important thing in all of life?” what would your answer be?

You see, I believe that there is a tendency and a temptation to only focus on what is in front of us in our own life. The key word there is “only.” All we see is:

•  My success

•  My family

•  My dreams

•  My future

•  My failures

•  My shortcomings

•  My recovery

•  My faith

Now, all of the things I listed are good for us to focus on. We should look to be successful, that is us being good stewards of the gifts, talents, and opportunities that God has given us. We should focus on our family, it is a gift from God and is one of the most important things in life. We should focus on our future, that is where we are headed. We should focus on our overcoming our past shortcomings and our recovery, because we are not defined by our past. We should focus on our faith, because that is the reason we are all here in the first place is to grow closer to Christ! So all of these things are good!

But look at the first word listed of all of these, “My.” I believe we have a tendency and a temptation to focus on ourselves. While all of these things are important and they should be paid attention to, focusing on ourselves will cause us to miss the boat on what matters most to God. You see, God loves you and He cares about you. However, while you are important to God and you do matter to Him, the truth is that you are not the only person that God cares about.

I asked asked you the question, What is the most important thing in life? I would propose that the most important thing in life is the very thing that we are all moving closer to. It is an event that has yet to happen, but all of us are getting closer to. I believe that the most important thing in life is The Return of Christ. There is nothing more important in life than the return of Jesus Christ. Everything that God has invested in all leads and points to this moment. We will talk more about this in just a little bit.

Let us get back to why today is important. It is that today is The Day of Atonement. What in the world is that? I will tell you in just a moment, but I want you to know that this day matters and it matters especially to you. It matters to you for two reasons:

1.    The Atonement changes where you stand today

2.    The atonement determines where we all stand when Jesus returns

Before we move any further, let’s talk about what the Day of Atonement is.

The Day of Atonement is the day a sacrifice was made to cover the sins of the people and make them right with God.

THE OLD TESTAMENT REALITY

This is revealed in the Old Testament. There was a time when mankind, God’s creation, was at peace and relationship with God. However, when sin entered the world, we were separated from Him. He is a holy God. He is just and is righteous and cannot approve or ignore sin.

•  A judge cannot ignore guilt and still be called just.

•  A doctor cannot ignore diagnosing a deadly disease and still be considered good.

•  An accountant cannot falsify records and still remain an honest accountant.

•  In the same way, God cannot overlook sin and still remain holy.

So in order to bring His people back into relationship with Him again, He made a way through a sacrificial system that would cleanse the people of their sins. There was so much in this system and it was very detailed, too much for us to go over today. The most important part of it all was The Day of Atonement, as it was the day that all of Israel’s sins were atoned for.

Atone = To cover; the covering of sin by paying a price for it

This was performed by the High Priest of the temple. This man was responsible for making a sacrifice on behalf of all the people unto God.

•  The high priest washed himself and put on special linen clothing.

•  He offered a bull as a sacrifice for his own sins and his family’s sins.

•  He selected two goats for the people.

•  He killed the first goat as a sacrifice for the people’s sins.

•  He carried the sacrificial blood behind the veil into the Most Holy Place.

•  He sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat—the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.

•  He placed his hands on the second goat and confessed the people’s sins over it.

•  That goat was sent into the wilderness, symbolically carrying their sins away.

On top of the high priest being responsible for performing all of these duties, he had to do them perfectly. He had to dot every “i” and cross every “t”. He could not skip any steps in the process. If he did so, when he walked into the Most Holy Place where the presence of God was housed, he have fell dead on the spot. Wow!

Now I know that may seem a bit extreme, but there is a reason for this, and that is: forgiveness is a big deal. Forgiveness may seem easy for the guilty party. It may seem easy to you when you were the person who committed the wrong. However, forgiveness is birthed out of sacrifice. This is because when you sin, somebody has to pay the price for it. Somebody has to bear the hurt and pain of your shortcoming. Whether it be your spouse, your children, your co-worker, etc, somebody has to bear the weight of your shortcoming. In order for you to forgive someone, it will cost you something.

The second reason why I believe God went through the lengths of making this process so detailed is because it was a foreshadow of what Jesus would do for you and me. 

Hebrews 9:11-12 — “11 …But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

Under the old testament, the high priest entered God’s presence with the blood of another sacrifice. But Jesus entered the presence of God with His own blood.

Ark of the Covenant  =  God’s Presence

The High Priest  =  Jesus Going into God’s Presence on Our Behalf

The Sacrificial Goat and Its Blood  =  Jesus Giving His Life and Shedding His Blood

The Mercy Seat  =  Where God’s Justice and Mercy Meet in Christ

The Scapegoat  =  Jesus bearing our sins and carrying them away

This right here is the reason why today, The Day of Atonement matters. It’s because it is a picture of what Jesus did for you and me! That Jesus came, died, was buried, and rose so that you and I can be forgiven and made right with God!

Romans 10:9 — “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

You might be here today and you are not sure that you are saved. Because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, if you realize, repent, and believe, then you will be saved! You will be changed from the inside out and your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in Heaven.

So where do you stand today? Have you been forgiven? Are you still guilty before God? That is all determined by you realizing you too have sinned, by repenting to God and turned back to him, then by receiving Jesus as the savior of our soul and asking Him to come into your life. That is the answer!

With that said, the day of atonement matters to you, but it also matters to everyone else. It matters for your mom, dad, siblings, spouse, children, friends, co-workers, neighbors, everyone! Why? Because Jesus is coming back.

Hebrews 9:28 — “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Jesus is coming back again! He came once to pay for our sin, and now He is coming back to redeem those whom He paid for! All those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!! That word “saved” meaning that we will be collected by Jesus when He comes again to be made like Him and to spend eternity with Him. Praise God!

But this is bigger than just you. Because of the war being waged by the devil. If you have been saved and set free by Jesus, He knows that He can’t pull you from the Hand of God. But what he can do instead is to keep you from taking other people with you. He wants to keep as many people blind to the truth as possible. One way he can do that is by keeping you focused on your own life and your own world. If he can get me to be consumed with just “me”, then he will keep me from the bigger truth that so many other people are in danger!!

[Story of the two men trapped on 9/11]

The truth is that:

•  If anyone believes that Jesus died for them and place their faith in Him, they will be saved.

•  Everyday there are people around us dying and going to hell because they never believed.

That is the urgency that the enemy is trying to keep us from seeing today. We are all moving toward eternity, but there are many who are not prepared for it.

2 Peter 3:9 — “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Some people ask, If Jesus is coming back, why hasn’t he returned yet? The answer is that He is being patient. He is being patient for you, those around you, and everyone here on earth. Every additional day is another day of mercy for someone to come to Christ and to be saved. However, we cannot mistake God’s patience as His absence. Jesus is still coming back. The day is still approaching. The clock is still ticking.

The question is, are you covered?

And if you are covered, who are you helping to get ready?

If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, today is your opportunity. You do not have to perform a religious ceremony, you don’t have to bring a goat, find an earthly high priest, or enter a temple. Jesus, your perfect High Priest, has already entered God’s presence for you. The sacrifice has already been made. The blood has already been shed. Jesus has already paid the price!

All you have to do is:

Realize you have sinned.

Repent and turn to God.

Receive Jesus into your heart as the free gift of salvation.

For those of us who are saved, let us look beyond ourselves and ask: who in my life is not ready for the return of Christ? Let us pray for them, reach out to them, invite them to church, tell them about Jesus, and live the truth of the gospel in front of them.

But do not allow yourself to only be consumed by what is happening in your world that we lose sight that the enemy is trying to snatch as many people away from God and take them with Him to hell for eternity. May God give us the eyes of Jesus so that we can see the people in our life the same way He does. There are people whom God has placed in your life because He wants them to come to Christ through you! So how do we do that?

1.    Pray for them

2.    Show God’s love to them

3.    Invite them to church

4.    Tell them about Jesus

If we do that, the we are doing our part. And if we can just do that, God will do the rest.

TAKEAWAYS:

I.     Forgiveness is never free.

II.    Jesus paid the price so that you could be forgiven.

III.  Jesus is coming back; every additional day is more time for someone to repent.

IV. If you are ready for Jesus’ return, don’t go alone!

BLESSED Series Part 5: Enduring through Hardship

 RECAP

Intro: What it Means to be Blessed

-    God gives us blessings, produces blessings, and promises blessings.

-    We as people tend to focus on material blessings more than God does.

-    God has given us blessings, but how much stuff we have is not the best way for us to measure God’s blessing in our life.

-    The truth is that we ARE blessed— blessed with every spiritual blessing.

-    We have access to the blessing of God.

-    However, we must walk in them in order to experience His blessings the way He intended for us.

Part 1: Delighting in God’s Word

-    There is a blessing when we delight in God’s Word.

-    Blessed is the man who refuses to listen to the voice of the world.

-    Blessed is the man who delights (values) God’s Word

-    Blessed is the man who meditates on God’s Word

-    Blessed is the man who obeys God’s Word

-    That person will be blessed: stable, sustained, fruitful, enduring, and prosperous.

-    Walking in God’s ways is the closest thing to heaven on this side of it.

Part 2: Walking in Integrity

-    Integrity means wholeness—being the same person publicly and privately.

-    Integrity is not perfection. When people of integrity fail, they admit it, repent, and make it right.

-    Through integrity, we are building the life we will live in tomorrow. Our words, decisions, and actions eventually become our foundation.

-    God connects integrity with His blessing: His favor, His vindication, and a generational blessing upon our children.

-    Never sacrifice what God has promised tomorrow for what compromise can give you today.

Part 3: Making God our Refuge

-    A refuge is a place that we run to in times of trouble.

-    We make God our refuge when we stay close to Him and by declaring that the Lord is our fortress and our defense.

-    God promises protection  over our life, even the things we don’t see coming.

-    He also promises His personnel of angels concerning us to watch over us.

-    God promises to be present with us, answer us, and deliver us in times of trouble.

Part 4: Living Generously

-    God chose someone who needed a blessing to give them an opportunity to become a blessing.

-    Your need does not disqualify you from being used by God to be a blessing.

-    Your need is the soil by which God uses to bring blessings into your life.

-    When we live generously, God frees us from fear and leads us to faith in God.

-    God will sustain you with what you need as you meet the needs of others.

-    As we refresh others, God will refresh us with blessings on our life.

Introduction

I love the game of basketball. I coach a team that my daughter plays on. If you have ever been to one of our practices, you would see that there are certain parts that our players enjoy. They love shooting, working on their moves, and especially love scrimmaging. However, NOBODY enjoys the moment when one of our coaches blow the whistle and says, “everybody get on the line!”

You can tell that after a while shoulders start sagging, their legs get tired, their lungs begin burning, and they wonder how much longer they will have to run. In that moment, conditioning can feel like punishment. But a good coach knows that they are not trying to hurt their players. They are preparing them for the moment when the game becomes difficult.

Eventually, they will find themselves in the fourth quarter—tired, under pressure, and tempted to quit. When that moment comes, they will need the endurance that was developed during conditioning. The part of practice they enjoyed the least may become the very thing they need the most.

Life has a way of feeling the same way. We enjoy life when prayers are being answered, when doors are opening, and everything seems to be working. However, we all experience seasons if difficulty, hurt, and times we wonder how much more we can take. What we don’t realize is that the very thing we want God to take away is the very thing God is using to prepare us for what’s ahead.

James 1:12 — “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial…”

God considers the person who endures hardship as a believer “blessed.” The Bible never promises that blessed people never experience hardship. It says there is a blessing connected to enduring hardship faithfully. However, if we misunderstand hardship, we will respond to it incorrectly. Just as a player can mistake conditioning for punishment, we can misinterpret what is happening during the difficult seasons of our lives.

As we go through this message, we will be looking at the life of Joseph to help pull principles from his story that help reveal the purpose of hardship in our life. But before we do that, we need to confront some of the myths that are commonly believed in America.

Myths About Hardship

Myth 1:  If I am living right, life should go right

•   We assume good choices will protect us from any bad experiences.

•   While wise choices can keep us from unnecessary trouble, obedience does not guarantee an easy life.

John 16:33 — “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

•   Truth: Faithfulness does not make us exempt from living in a broken world.

Myth 2:  Hardship is punishment from God

•   Sometimes hardship results from our choices.

•   However, not every hardship is God correcting us.

•   Hardship can come from another person’s actions.

•   Hardship can come from the brokenness of the world.

•   Hardship can come from circumstances beyond our control.

Truth: Don’t be quick to assume that you did something wrong when experiencing hardship.

 

Myth 3:  Hardship means God has abandoned me.

•   When circumstances become difficult, we may assume that God has left us.

•   But throughout Joseph’s hardship, Scripture repeatedly makes the same statement: “The Lord was with Joseph.” — Genesis 39:2, 21, 23

•   God was with Joseph when he served in Potiphar’s house.

•   God was with him when he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife.

•   God was with him while he sat in prison.

•   Joseph’s circumstances changed, but God’s presence did not.

Truth: God’s presence is not determined by the level of our circumstances.

Principles for Enduring Hardship

With that said, today we are going to be looking at the life of Joseph as an example on how to endure hardship. Joseph was seventeen years old when God gave him a dream about his future. However, his journey toward reaching that dream looked nothing like he expected. His brothers hated him, threw him into a pit, and sold him into slavery. He became a servant in Egypt, was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, and was sent to prison. Even after helping Pharaoh’s cupbearer, Joseph was forgotten.

Joseph could not control what happened to him, but he could control how he responded. Today we are going to look at 4 principles on enduring hardship, according to the life of Joseph.

Principle 1: God is with you through hardship

Joseph faced many trials during his journey to the palace. However, the defining truth was that the Lord was with Him. The Lord was with him in Potiphar’s house (Genesis 39:2), He was with him in the prison (Genesis 39:21), and he was with Him throughout his time of hardship. Although Joseph faced difficult seasons, He was never alone.

There are times in our life where God delivers us from the hardship. Amen for that! However, other times He walks with us through the hardship. Either way, we are not alone. Let that encourage you! We imagine that if we are facing difficulty that we did something wrong. However, God is right there with us every step of the way.

Psalm 23:4 — “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…”

Principle 2: Remain faithful where you are

Through everything Joseph faced, he was faithful in every situation. He served faithfully in Potiphar’s house. He served faithfully in prison. He managed whatever was placed in his hands, even though he was not the position he had dreamed about. Joseph did not wait until he reached the palace to become faithful. He was faithful right where he was as a servant and a prisoner before he was ever made ruler over Egypt.

There is a temptation for us to complain about where we are in difficult seasons. Some people are waiting for the storm to pass by before they begin doing what God has called them to do. However, it is important that we remain faithful even during difficulty like Joseph. No doubt that hardship is a test!

Principle 3: Do not allow hardship to change your character

Joseph was constantly treated unfairly. He was betrayed by his brothers, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, and was forgotten by the cupbearer. Joesph had every reason to become angry, dishonest, or bitter. But Joseph refused to allow what happened around him to corrupt what God was developing within him. When Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce him, Joseph responded:

Genesis 39:9 — “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

Joseph believed that his circumstances did not have to change his convictions.

We don’t get to choose what circumstances we go through. However, we do have a choice how we will go through those circumstances. We must holdfast to our convictions in God’s Word and choose to honor God no matter the situation. As I mentioned before, it is a test! That is what it means to endure hardship. Don’t allow what happened to you to determine who you become.

Principle 4: Trust God with the outcome

Joseph never tried to force himself into a better situation. Joseph could not force Pharaoh to notice him even if he wanted to. He couldn’t open the prison doors nor could he determine how long his season would last. Nevertheless, Joseph’s job was not to find a way out of his circumstances. Instead, Joseph’s responsibility was to remain faithful. The outcome belonged to God.

At the right time, Pharaoh had a dream no one could interpret. The cupbearer finally remembered Joseph, and Joseph was brought out of prison. In a single day, God moved Joseph from the prison to the palace. But that moment came after years of quiet faithfulness.

Psalm 105:19 — “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.”

If we are not careful, we will spend time trying to figure out how to get out of our circumstances. However, many times God is needing for us to remain faithful. You may not be able to control when your circumstances change, but you can choose to trust God until they do. At the end of the day, your responsibility is faithfulness; the outcome belongs to God.

The Blessings of Enduring Hardship

James 1:12 — “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial…”

James 1:2 — “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”

God’s Word reveals that enduring hardship brings about blessing in your life. So let’s discover what some of those blessings are:

1.     Endurance Produces Spiritual Maturity

James 1:2-4 — “The testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing”

Hardship matures us in ways that comfort cannot. It teaches us patience, strengthens our character, deepens our faith in God, and develops spiritual stability. While we are asking God to change our circumstances, God is using our circumstances to change us.

The blessing: We become stronger, wiser, and more spiritually mature.

2.     Endurance Produces a Proven Faith

1 Peter 1:6-7 — “6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Hardship has a way of strengthening our faith. It reveals what is already in us. One of the best things to come from it is a faith that has been tested and has been strengthened. Many times, we do not know how strong we are until we are tested. That is the only way we grow. The same is truth with our faith. A tested faith is one that has struggled and still chosen to trust God.

The blessing: We come out of hardship with a deeper confidence in God’s faithfulness.

3.     Endurance Carries an Eternal Reward

James 1:12 — “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life…”

It is important to understand that when James uses the word “trial,” he is referring to hardship that the Jewish Christians were facing at that time. There were scattered among many different nations and were facing many difficulties, including being mistreated due to their faith in Christ. However, James wanted to encourage these believers to persevere because of the blessing awaiting them. That blessing was the crown of life.

When we endure hardship, it reveals the genuineness of our faith. James tells us that we must stand through the test and trials we face. The truth is that not every hardship will be fully explained in this life. Not every loss will be restored exactly as we hope. But God promises that our faithfulness will never be wasted. There is an eternal reward waiting for everyone who continues following Christ through every trial.

The blessing: God sees, remembers, and will eternally reward our faithfulness.

The players running during conditioning cannot always see how those difficult moments are preparing them. They only know that they are tired, uncomfortable, and ready for it to end. But the coach can see the game ahead.

In the same way, we cannot always see what God is preparing us for through the difficult seasons we walk through. We only know that we are tired and want the season to change. But God sees what we cannot see. He sees the fourth quarter. He sees the responsibility ahead. He sees the people our testimony will one day help. He sees the completed story.

Joseph could not see the palace from the pit. He could not see the purpose from the prison. But God was present in every situation, using every season to prepare Joseph for what was ahead. God is doing the same thing in your life as well.

TAKEAWAYS:

I.      Don’t interpret hardship as God being absent

II.     Don’t allow your circumstances to change your character

III.   God lets nothing go to waste

IV.   Today’s hardship is preparing you for tomorrow’s purpose