October 1, 1997 Joni’s Mkt.

Tonight we have a simple message, think about this, think about you, are you like this, are you armed, are you fully closed with armor of God? Did you notice that God never teaches us to put on nice silk clothes, walang ganon eh, ang picture ni God ganito, nasa giyera tayo eh, we are in such a war and the other day I was just thinking about that war, do you that it goes on without our knowing it, it just keep going on and on, it’s always a surprise attack and do you know when it comes best? It really comes, the devil begins to attack you when you are on a high, when you are on a spiritual high. When you are really going strong for the Lord what happens? Two things happens:

1. We let our guard down

When we look at put on the full armor it means put on continually, don’t ever let it down.

Tonight we’d like to share with you a continuing series how can we make sure, what are the foundations that we must have… turn your bible with me to Matthew 16:21-22, From that time Jesus Christ 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 be raised up on the third day. [22] And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." He had a concept of Jesus that Jesus should never suffer and Jesus should not die, it reveal our values, our core values and once that reveal makikita mo kung godly o hinde and so Jesus turns around, Jesus has the armor all the time, do you believe that? He has the armor all the time kaya nakikita niya lagi si satan. So he says, Peter, get behind me satan you are a stumbling block to me. Why? You do not have a mind what? The things of God but the things of men. In other words where’s the battle going on? In our mind. So if you’re single you wonder, what goes through the mind of the one that I will marry, does he have God’s interest, or man, isn’t a good question to us? what preoccupies them? And so yun ang pinaka basic sa atin to conquer the devil we need work with our minds. Jesus gives us some guidelines for your mind to be okay in v. 24, This person who puts on the full armor, one of the most basic things is he must be willing to deny himself so that we not only resisting the devil, we are also resisting our flesh. So to win the war it’s not automatic, we must resist the devil then we must resist the flesh be able to deny it because the flesh is trained to live independent of God, to satisfy legitimate appetite outside of God’s way. The second part is what? First foundation: Deny itself basically what does that mean? the question is who is God in your life, who is running your life, what are your decision being based upon. And so we also took up take up your cross and then your follow me. You must be prepared for a life of suffering. Many people think if I become a believer gaganda yung buhay ko in the sense that I’ll be blessed, I will no longer suffer. So you know, that’s a demonic idea, the wealth and prosperity gospel that’s why it’s based upon, nowhere in scripture you will ever see that, you’re preapred to suffer . It’s a cross that Jesus carry, not a little cross but a cross of suffering. Why do Christians suffer? Okay persecution, just like Jesus si Jesus ba may ginawang mmasama, and yet who persecuted Him? The religious people and how did they do it? they hurled accusation after accusation. Is that painful? If people begin to talk behind your back, is that hurt you? sabi nga nung isa, why would hurt us, he said it, if you never knew it you would never be hurt by but then you’ll find out then balisa ka na, when you never knew was it problematic or when you knew what’s the difference? Bakit ka nasasaktan, sinong nagre-reject sa iyo? Yung mga tao, masakit. See if you never knew you’d walk happily along. What’s the difference? You just knew so what, they said it, whether you knew about it or not they said it. But why do you let it affect you when you know, you feel betrayed. Who are you now thinking of? God. One of the things that we need to understand as we serve Christ, when we walk through in service, what happen to Jesus, what happen to you? I guarantee you one of the greatest, you know the translation of the word devil, what does it mean? divider accuser. The devil is the one accusing us in front of God and what does he use? Mga tao. The problem we want to look at is why does it affect us so much? Is that means you also have a problem. That means your mind is not give on the interest of God, where is it give? Self, yan ang sinasabi ni Peter kay Jesus, "Hinde ka puedeng mag-suffer, don’t suffer." See when somebody talks against you, you are now suffer with your hurt. And Jesus said, "Kung ako ginanon nila, ikaw pa kaya." That’s why He warn His apostle, you come after Me, you follow Me, you gonna be prepared for what? For suffering. And the essence of that suffering ladies and gentlemen is primarily attacks on you because have different value systems. Values will now crash and people will blame other people down. Have you notice that? The devil will find a way to bring others down and other people will love it. So if your heart is right, if you doing things right no matter what they say, okay lang. Many Christians away ng away, one way to solve that: deny self, take up your cross and then follow Christ whatever it is. This is a discipleship call, Jesus never paints a rosy picture, it’s like a man proposing to the single lady. It says, you know woman if you marry me don’t expect that I give you diamonds, things like those and if you marry me you gonna be prepared for suffering but what I can give you is a love that will last forever. Are you prepared for a life of suffering? We were in the bible study with some very high equal in the church and as we compared notes, somebody said something that really struck me he said, "You know many times I struggle with the thought that the Christian life has to be sacrificial," he is a business man, he’s wealthy. And the question he ask himself is "Have I sacrifice enough for Christ or am I just giving Him the left overs?". See Christ will not allow you to give Him just the left overs it’s like marriage its all or nothing. Deny self, take up your cross. When we look at our lives, when we look at verses like these, are they convicting? You ask yourself, have I really sacrifice, what have I given up for Jesus if any. Some of us we just change religion from here to here, you look at your life the same, you just go to a different place on Sunday. Have you willing taken up your cross? Have you die to Christ, have made a decision your life that cause you because you are Christian? You think about it. Remember that king, that rich man, Jesus said, "Sell everything you got and you come, you can do all the bible study you like but if you don’t have this foundations you cannot follow Christ, you can try to but shouldn’t be able. Christ will show you a way and He says, deny himself take up his cross and then follow me. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Turn to 1 John 2:5-6, But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Now think about that, if you claim Jesus Christ is in you, you must walk the way Christ walk and so the question becomes how did Christ walk? You just study the gospel, you keep reading it and you know how He walk. And many are not being walking like Him. Peter had a good insight he said, you know the bible they could not call believers they are called disciples, disciple means follower, not just a learner a follower, are we walking in the footsteps of Christ, are we denying our self ?Is Jesus deny himself? Obviously, did he take up his cross, literally and then follow. Are we doing that? When the robber meets the road, doon magkakatalo yun. I’d like to share with you some very nice stories which I have heard of people, sabi nung isa you know he struggles with business, he’s a business man. There are many times when in his mind he would ask the question, "What would Jesus do in my shoe?" What do you think is the most precious thing that you have? Your life, okay, your family. One way to know whether you are walking with Christ, what would Christ do, sacrifice means what? A giving up, therefor taking up the cross if you willing to die to self that basically means you’re willing to give up anything that will have. That really is the call, are you willing? What’s the most precious thing that you can give up? What was the most precious thing of Jesus that He gave up? Your life, which is easier to do, to die or to live? Is it easier to die for Christ or to live for Him? So this businessman said, You know in Romans 12:1, What does God want? He does not want a dead sacrifice, kasi yung mga iba they will take that literally and they will kill themselves, that’s not what God wants, that’s the easy way out give up the most precious thing you have and you kill yourself and you go to heaven, that’s not the deal. Go back to Matthew 6. What does it mean to walk the same way that Christ walk. It’s very simple Matthew 16:25 "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. You know I struggle with this verse for such a long time because everyone of us we would kill our self if we did not say we love our self, is that true, yeah!. You don’t want to die, I don’t want to die but Jesus Christ when He calls you He want you, He does not want your possession and stuff like that, He want you. Sometimes we think we can serve Jesus by proxy. What proxy? "Wife go to Sunday school, teach them or son play the piano". Sa kanya counted yon eh sa iyo? See God wants you not proxy, not whatever you got. What does life consist of? Time, a time equals life, you waste your time, you waste your life. What you have, what God has given you is time on this earth. God has given you a body, that’s not what important, He’s given you time to do something, to do things. And what people do is they take their time and their life and put it somewhere else rather than where God wants to put it, that’s the struggle. And wherever you put your time that means that where your priority is no matter what your lips say you just take your calendar and then you just mark it of and say if I spend 17 hrs in my job and 4 hrs with my kid who is your priority? Your job, there’s no question. Wherever you are spending the bark of your time that’s your priority. If you want to save your life, die for Jesus, lose it for Jesus. If you do anything for Jesus that’s the name of the game. All of you know Romans 12:1, I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Are we offering our bodies or not. What have you done for Jesus, have you compromised, if Jesus said, pay your tax, are you paying, if Jesus say, "Hey! Don’t be yoke with an unbeliever." God wants you live your life a living and holy sacrifice. Will people know that you’re a believer, should people know, do they see or do they just you the same old self. So sabi ni Jesus 1. Deny self, 2. Take up your cross daily then follow Me, three things, follow Christ walk and the way Christ walk He was not concerned with His life, He was not concerned with His possessions, He was living not for but for God and that’s why the context alam na lahat ng tao yung Matthew 16:26, "For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? In other words its a profit thing, God is interested in profit, your profit. Many of us ano ang hinahabol natin, pera hanggang ngayon pera pa rin and yet what will it profit ang dami mong pera and you are not reach towards God. What does it profit you to gain the whole world and so each one of us will be called and will be convicted one day you will just look in the mirror God target my heal for about a year and a half, I struggle with this concept, I was enjoying my life, I had a reasonably good job, I was one of the highest paid Filipinos… and I heard the call tinatawag ako ng Panginoon Diyos and I would go and share God’s word, I would witness, I would read the bible, I was so hungry for God’s word and years as I sat there I understood God had given me some talents to understand that life is time. Nothing wrong with working but for me what I heard God is hey! I want you and I began to calculate what I am doing with my life and what I was thought the way in business we teach people the way to look at, at present the way to make decision you’ve got to look at the end. You’ve got to look at what do you want to be, what do you want to accomplish then pagnakita mo yon then you will now say okay I will turn 36 degree so my life will now be align towards my goal. So the key question here is what is your goal? Many people they believe that if I mass wealth that’s my goal because if I have that I’ll be happy that’s why they try to do and they do everything, they sacrifice many thing. It’s really a sad stake, I have a lot of money but my priority were not right, my values were not right. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world. You think about, Some of you already made a lot of money, keep on raising money, what for? As we look at it and look at it and God kept calling and calling, you know He’s calling very gently, God never shout, did you know that? He wait patiently for you just come if you can come, come and some of us were just not on tune. We’re so deep in the world, we don’t have a chance to think. If God begins to call you, you’ll have make a decision if you’re wrong, you have to think. What’s your goal, what am I living for? And once you answer that question and the decision are very, very easy to make. So let him deny himself, take up his cross. Follow Christ that means we’re willing to sacrifice the physical life, the worldly profit for Godliness. Is there anything wrong with being rich? Nothing wrong with having money, what’s wrong is the money has you. The question to you if you have money, if God gives you money what are you doing with that money, it’s not even yours. Each of us we have to search our soul. What are you trying to achieve in your life? If you don’t know that yet may I suggest to you that you are not living properly. Basically the devil has made us assume that ang assumption natin is for the here and now. Look at Matthew 16:27, "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and WILL THEN RECOMPENSE EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. Basically what Jesus is trying to tell us is our goals have to go beyond this earth. And let me suggest to you that what He’s saying the goal should be eternal rather than temporary. Put your sight higher. Don’t make it your goal to get married that shouldn’t be your goal, that’s only one thing you will do to get to a higher goal. You must live for eternity. You must have an eternal perspective. So that is what it means to lose your life. Sabi ni Jesus, Let him deny himself, take up his cross, follow me. What does follow Jesus means? It means that I’m prepared to lose what is precious to me, it means that I’m prepared to change my entire goal in life. He want my life, my goal has to be in line with what He wants for me for His glory. And lastly I have to think in terms of eternal. Let’s turn to Hebrews 11:24-27, By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. [25] He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. [26] He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. [27] By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. Sinasabi po dito sa bible si Moses started with the faith of his parents, his parents decided to save him pero hinde pa counted yon. Each of us is being called by God, when we have grown up, what’s the characteristic of the grown up versus the kid? The grown up now makes decision, choices. Life is a choice, it’s always a choice. What will you do with your life? Are you choosing for that reward. Many Christians they’re deluded, they think, I just get to heaven. I think if you’re on that border line, you will never make it. God wants your life nothing shorter. There is not look warm here its all or nothing and it could empty this Joni’s I don’t care because that’s what the bible say. He wants you, your life, not your wife, yours, He’s calling, He say come!. And don’t be a martyr why you want to because there’s a reward of those who seek Him. To be number one you’ve got to put on picture like this, you’ve got to be ready, you’ve got to be in fighting gear, you can’t be sloppy, you can’t be part of an army where you just sitting on your ass, you’ve got to move. God is calling you, the King of king and He want you. The question is are you willing to come? What I learned about God is like this, He will show you the long long way off tapos ang ipapakita niya next is yung next step. You will not see what comes after, you’ve got to open the door and you walk through, you’ll be know what’s in there? No. It is now His responsibility to make me a fisher of men. What should I do? Just follow. Like a roller coaster the greatest thing is fear. Ladies and gentlemen I will testify to you if you follow God, His promise is you will.. yung iniwan mo, yung nawala mong pera, maski na ano yun your life is nothing, it’s really nothing. God will reward you both on this earth and the next life, go for that. What does it for you to have a goal na napaka babaw dito sa mundong ito, be a warrior for Jesus Christ. Be like this man on guard, your guiding your mind, anong gagawin mo, in your work stand out, in your family life stand up, wherever you are it does not matter who else peso you play only to one… God as long as okay ka ron it does not matter what anybody else say, just do it. Will people know that you are a believer by what you do and what you say? Have you made a decision to lose your life, your job for the sake of Christ or whatever it is, ang hirap ano but actually when you think about it hinde mahirap because what is at steak is nothing verses something, give it up, let go and God will take care of you. His calling each and everyone of us to service. Iba-iba ang service natin but you have to listen to what God wants you to do and basically will He tell you? No. and what you know is for sure:

1. Saving souls
2. Got to be for God’s glory

Are you dedicated, if not shake your boots get rid of the cam web, clean up your mind and make a simple decision tonight, I will follow Christ whatever it take. Let’s bow our heads.