TROUBLESOME TIMES PART 4
OUR PURPOSE
EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS A PURPOSE, CONTRARY TO SOME TEACHING…
Christianity is not merely about being saved from something—it is about being saved for something.
God has given all Christians a purpose, a direction, and motivation, all to ultimately reach the goal of the higher calling – Heaven.
Tonight we ask the question If there is one scripture that answers this question it must be Solomon’s conclusion in Ecclesiastes twelve, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.” (Eccl. 12:13)
This applies to all people, not just Jews, not just Christians – all mankind.
FROM FEAR TO VICTORY
Scripture shows that fear can paralyze a person, while at the same time Solomon says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” (Eccl. 12:13).
The right kind of fear empowers us to be victorious through faith and to serve God despite our fears.
Our lesson today is titled From Fear to Victory…
Something that we all should agree on – that is
Fear Disables — Faith Enables
Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7)
Fear is a powerful emotion useful to us when it warns us of danger.
But when fear controls us it limits us:
Fear can destroy our faith, silence our testimony, and keep us from doing what God has called us out of the world to do.
The issue is not whether Christians will ever experience fear.
The issue is: Will we allow fear to control us, or will we walk in the faith that brings victory?
Example of people who were disabled by fear…
ROUBLESOME TIMES PART 3
DEALING WITH PEER PRESSURE
Jesus knew that fear of peers could cause one to lose their soul in the eternal fires of hell. That is why He said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28). To this Moses wrote, “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice” (Exo. 23:2).
Peer pressure is the pressure we feel to think, speak, dress, act, or believe a certain way because of the people around us. It can come from: Friends, Family, Coworkers, Schoolmates, Society, Social media and even other Christians.
Peer pressure is especially dangerous because we all often want to be accepted. We don’t want to be different. We don’t want people to laugh at us, reject us, or think badly of us. Isaiah was not wrong when he warned us saying, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20).
And let’s face it when it comes to right and wrong, morality v/s immorality this world, in our time, will often choose wrong over right, and immorality over morality. WHEN THE CROWD SAYS YES — CHRISTIANS MUST LEARN TO SAY NO! This is extremely hard to do in many cases. But every Christian must learn this important lesson: We cannot allow the crowd to determine our convictions. God must determine our convictions.
The question is not: “What is everybody else doing?” The question is: “What does God want me to do?”
Romans 12:2 says: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
The power then to not be let away by peer pressure – is to renew your mind by the word of God…
As Christians, many of us fear expressing any kind of doubt, yet the truth is that there are times in every Christian’s life when doubt takes center stage. It is normal for us to have our faith challenged by doubt, yet properly handled doubt becomes a door to increased faith. Question: Are you greater than the Lord’s 11 disciples who saw Him on the mountain, after the resurrection, and worshipped Him, yet some doubted (Matt. 28:17)? Is your faith greater than Peter’s who had enough faith to walk on water (Matt. 14:28-29)?
But there is an important distinction between doubt and disbelief: Doubt may visit a believer, but doubt does not have to defeat a believer. When we have doubts we must understand two things…
PRODIGAL SON
At the end of this lessong, we all need to ask ourselves a question:
Which of the Prodigal Sons do we see in ourselves? A waste, like the younger son, or the wrong superior attitude like the older older brother?
THE SIN OF PRIDE
Solomon wrote, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” — Proverbs 16:18. Introduction: What Is Pride? In the negative sense: Webster: exaggerated self-esteem: Webster connects a synonym conceit as “especially excessive appreciation of one’s own worth or virtue”. God defines pride as an attitude of self-exaltation, self-sufficiency, and self-worship that puts self in the place of God. [C.S. Lewis Institute].
Key Aspects of a Spiritual View of Pride: (1) Self-Focus: It is an obsession with oneself where “there is no room for God” in a person’s thoughts. (2) Stealing Glory: It involves taking credit and glory for talents, successes, and life itself, which rightly belong to God alone. (3) Independence: It is the belief that a person does not need God’s grace or guidance, leading to spiritual blindness and self-righteousness. (4) Contempt for Others: Toward people, pride manifests as arrogance, conceit, and indifference or looking down on others.
4 Reasons why Christians and God Hate Pride…
The Kingdom
of Heaven
We are so thankful because we have spiritual blessings in Christ. The kingdom has come, the gospel of the kingdom.
In this lesson we’ll be looking at some basic eliments that establish our faith. . .
IN HIS IMAGE
In this lesson we are going to focus on the image of God. That’s the image that we bear! What should we look like?
We are to be representatives and have been given a stewarding dominion over the physical creation by God. We reflect God on how we rule over and reflect His creation as ambassadors of His rule and not owners of His creation.
Now in Romans 3:23 we know that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. But Jesus is our perfect model and we must be transformed into His image. . .
FEAR GOD!
The phrase “fear God and keep His commandments” comes most directly from Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” In the Bible, this doesn’t mean living in terror of God, but having a deep reverence for Him that shapes how you live.
What it means to “fear God”: Biblical “fear” is closer to awe, respect, and recognition of God’s authority.
Reverence and awe: In Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” It means acknowledging God as the ultimate source of truth and aligning your thinking with Him.
Turning away from evil: Job 1:1 describes Job as “blameless… one who feared God and shunned evil.” His reverence led to moral choices.
Obedience rooted in respect: In Exodus 20:20, Moses tells Israel not to be afraid in a panicked way, but to fear God so they won’t sin—showing that this “fear” guides behavior.
A clear example is Abraham in Genesis 22. When asked to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham obeys. God stops him and says, “Now I know that you fear God.” His “fear” was demonstrated by trust and willingness to obey, even when it was difficult…
GETTING TO THE POINT
PART 2
An important conclusion, something we all need to understand is this:
Feeling empty, depressed, or frustrated does not mean you are doing everything wrong.
Rather God made life this way with a purpose. He wants us to look to Him who alone can provide us with the true joy that calamities of life cannot take from you.
Only in Christ can one find true peace, true satisfaction.
So, what is the final word from the teacher? What is the end of the matter…