How Do You View Your Life

1
How Do You View Your Life?

• Our Lord wants our hearts and our minds.

2
How Do You View Your Life?

• Our Lord wants our hearts and our minds.
• The molding of the hearts of men involves great
  pain and struggle.

3
How Do You View Your Life?

• Our Lord wants our hearts and our minds.
• The molding of the hearts of men involves great
  pain and struggle.
• Paul described the conflict his first letter
  caused within the disciples at Corinth. (2 Cor
  75-11)

4
How Do You View Your Life?

• 2 Corinthians 75-11 (NKJV)
• For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies
  had no rest, but we were troubled on every side.
  Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. 6
  Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast,
  comforted us by the coming of Titus,

5
How Do You View Your Life?

• 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the
  consolation with which he was comforted in you,
  when he told us of your earnest desire, your
  mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced
  even more. 8 For even if I made you sorry with my
  letter, I do not regret it though I did regret
  it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you
  sorry, though only for a while.

6
How Do You View Your Life?

• 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry,
  but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you
  were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might
  suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly
  sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation,
  not to be regretted but the sorrow of the world
  produces death.

7
How Do You View Your Life?

• 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed
  in a godly manner What diligence it produced in
  you, what clearing of yourselves, what
  indignation, what fear, what vehement desire,
  what zeal, what vindication! In all things you
  proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

8
How Do You View Your Life?

• There was pain experienced by both Paul and the
  Corinthians.

9
How Do You View Your Life?

• As a result of an open heart the Corinthians was
  a conviction of sin and a strong understanding of
  Gods truth that they had not previously known.

10
How Do You View Your Life?

• As a result of an open heart the Corinthians was
  a conviction of sin and a strong understanding of
  Gods truth that they had not previously known.
• Sadly many who experience the pain of guilt and
  the uncertainty of their convictions, do not end
  up at the same place the Corinthians did.

11
How Do You View Your Life?

• Many of the Jews would have reasoned like Phillip
  when they heard the name Jesus of Nazareth and
  the possibility that He was the Messiah.

12
How Do You View Your Life?

• Many of the Jews would have reasoned like Phillip
  when they heard the name Jesus of Nazareth and
  the possibility that He was the Messiah.
• The Messiah had to come from Bethlehem! (John
  741-42)

13
How Do You View Your Life?

• John 741-42 (NKJV) - Others said, This is the
  Christ. But some said, Will the Christ come out
  of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that
  the Christ comes from the seed of David and from
  the town of Bethlehem, where David was?

14
How Do You View Your Life?

• For many people this planting of doubt was enough
  to end their struggle.

15
How Do You View Your Life?

• For many people this planting of doubt was enough
  to end their struggle.
• When that struggle ended, so did their
  opportunity for eternal life. (Jn 824)

16
How Do You View Your Life?

• John 824 (NKJV)
• Therefore I said to you that you will die in your
  sins for if you do not believe that I am He, you
  will die in your sins.

17
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Can I know that Jesus is the Son of God?

18
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Can I know that Jesus is the Son of God?
• John wrote that we might believe and have life!
  (Jn 2030-31)

19
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• John 2030-31 (NKJV)
• And truly Jesus did many other signs in the
  presence of His disciples, which are not written
  in this book 31but these are written that you
  may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
  God, and that believing you may have life in His
  name.

20
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Luke said that one could know the certainty of
  the life and truth about Jesus. (Luke 13-4)

21
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Luke 13-4 (NKJV)
• it seemed good to me also, having had perfect
  understanding of all things from the very first,
  to write to you an orderly account, most
  excellent Theophilus, 4that you may know the
  certainty of those things in which you were
  instructed.

22
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• The steps to belief will always be accompanied by
  obstacles and doubt.

23
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• The steps to belief will always be accompanied by
  obstacles and doubt.
• Jesus own brothers did not believe at first. (Jn
  73-5)

24
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• John 73-5 (NKJV)
• His brothers therefore said to Him, Depart from
  here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also
  may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no
  one does anything in secret while he himself
  seeks to be known openly. If You do these things,
  show Yourself to the world. 5 For even His
  brothers did not believe in Him.

25
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• They had to reason, test, and struggle. It was
  not an easy process nor was it a fast one!

26
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• They had to reason, test, and struggle. It was
  not an easy process nor was it a fast one!
• In the end they came to believe in Jesus. (Acts
  114)

27
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Acts 114 (NKJV) - These all continued with one
  accord in prayer and supplication, with the women
  and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His
  brothers.

28
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Can I know and stand upon the faith? (Jude 3)

29
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Jude 3 (NKJV) - Beloved, while I was very
  diligent to write to you concerning our common
  salvation, I found it necessary to write to you
  exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith
  which was once for all delivered to the saints.

30
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Here is where many battles are fought and where
  Satan has destroyed many.

31
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Here is where many battles are fought and where
  Satan has destroyed many.
• Some ask What in the Bible is essential and
  what is non-essential?

32
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Here is where many battles are fought and where
  Satan has destroyed many.
• Some ask What in the Bible is essential and
  what is non-essential?
• The answer for me and you is that I must stand
  upon what I understand.

33
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Here is where many battles are fought and where
  Satan has destroyed many.
• Some ask What in the Bible is essential and
  what is non-essential?
• The answer for me and you is that I must stand
  upon what I understand.
• I must maintain a purity of heart that will not
  compromise what I know.

34
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• This does not mean that I am perfect, or have
  perfect knowledge, but that I will keep a good
  conscience. (Acts 2415 Rom 1420, 23)

35
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Acts 2415 (NKJV)
• I have hope in God, which they themselves also
  accept, that there will be a resurrection of the
  dead, both of the just and the unjust.

36
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Romans 1420 (NKJV)
• Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of
  food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil
  for the man who eats with offense.

37
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Romans 1423 (NKJV)
• But he who doubts is condemned if he eats,
  because he does not eat from faith for whatever
  is not from faith is sin.

38
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Can I know that I am right with God?

39
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Can I know that I am right with God?
• Satan will use the doubt of possible hidden sin
  and hypothetical sudden sins to make one
  experience guilt without possible relief. (2 Cor
  210-11)

40
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• 2 Corinthians 210-11 (NKJV)
• Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.
  For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have
  forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence
  of Christ, 11lest Satan should take advantage of
  us for we are not ignorant of his devices.

41
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• We serve a God that has given us the ability to
  know where we stand. We must continue to
  believe. (1 Jn 513)

42
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• 1 John 513 (NKJV)
• These things I have written to you who believe in
  the name of the Son of God, that you may know
  that you have eternal life, and that you may
  continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

43
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• What is our God like? It is in Him that we trust
  and not in our own abilities and strength.

44
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• What is our God like? It is in Him that we trust
  and not in our own abilities and strength.
• A living faith will always repent when the way of
  the Lord is known more accurately. (Acts 1826)

45
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Acts 1826 (NKJV)
• So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue.
  When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took
  him aside and explained to him the way of God
  more accurately.

46
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Is there room for occasions of uncertainty?

47
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Is there room for occasions of uncertainty?
• John sought more information from Jesus! (Lk
  719-20)

48
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Luke 719-20 (NKJV)
• 19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him,
  sent them to Jesus, saying, Are You the Coming
  One, or do we look for another? 20 When the men
  had come to Him, they said, John the Baptist has
  sent us to You, saying, Are You the Coming One,
  or do we look for another?

49
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Consider the example of Habakkuk. (Hab 12-4)

50
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Habakkuk 21-4 (NKJV) - I will stand my watch
  And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see
  what He will say to me, And what I will answer
  when I am corrected. 2 Then the Lord answered me
  and said Write the vision And make it plain on
  tablets, That he may run who reads it.

51
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time
  But at the end it will speak, and it will not
  lie. Though it tarries, wait for it Because it
  will surely come, It will not tarry. 4 Behold
  the proud, His soul is not upright in him But
  the just shall live by his faith.

52
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• Some of the most effective workers for Satan have
  in their pride been certain
  about that which they should have been filled
  with doubts.

53
Our God provides us a path to certainty

• It is not weakness to recognize your own
  limitations by pursuing further study and prayer
  on a matter.

54
How Satan uses doubt

• Satans goal is to deny the power of Gods word
  in our hearts.

55
How Satan uses doubt

• Satans goal is to deny the power of Gods word
  in our hearts.
• Without the certainty that Gods word brings, a
  man cannot stand against Satan.
  (Rom 824-25)

56
How Satan uses doubt

• Romans 824-25 (NKJV)
• For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is
  seen is not hope for why does one still hope for
  what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do
  not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

57
How Satan uses doubt

• Doubt should be a temporary state not a permanent
  one. It is like a doorway that you
  pass through. Satan wants you to live in the
  doorway!

58
How Satan uses doubt

• Doubt should be a temporary state not a permanent
  one. It is like a doorway that you
  pass through. Satan wants you to live in the
  doorway!
• Those who live in uncertainty do not yet have a
  living faith. (2 Tim 35-7)

59
How Satan uses doubt

• 2 Timothy 35-7 (NKJV)
• having a form of godliness but denying its power.
  And from such people turn away! 6 For of this
  sort are those who creep into households and make
  captives of gullible women loaded down with sins,
  led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and
  never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

60
How Satan uses doubt

• Satan uses doubt to close minds. (Lk 733-35)

61
How Satan uses doubt

• Luke 733-35 (NKJV)
• For John the Baptist came neither eating bread
  nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon.
  34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking,
  and you say, Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a
  friend of tax collectors and sinners! 35 But
  wisdom is justified by all her children.

62
How Satan uses doubt

• It is very easy to raise questions and doubts
  about anything!

63
How Satan uses doubt

• It is very easy to raise questions and doubts
  about anything!
• Satan knows that throwing clouds of dust in the
  air will stop most from further
  study.

64
How Satan uses doubt

• It is very easy to raise questions and doubts
  about anything!
• Satan knows that throwing clouds of dust in the
  air will stop most from further
  study.
• A sound mind will not be intimidated by these
  things.

65
How Satan uses doubt

• It is very easy to raise questions and doubts
  about anything!
• Satan knows that throwing clouds of dust in the
  air will stop most from further
  study.
• A sound mind will not be intimidated by these
  things.
• Satan uses false teachers to paralyze and then
  destroy our faith. (2 Cor 210-11)

66
How Satan uses doubt

• 2 Corinthians 210-11 (NKJV)
• Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.
  For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have
  forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence
  of Christ, 11lest Satan should take advantage of
  us for we are not ignorant of his devices.

67
How Satan uses doubt

• Often false teachers are good at diagnosing
  legitimate problems however their solution is
  often worse than the problem itself.

68
How Satan uses doubt

• Often false teachers are good at diagnosing
  legitimate problems however their solution is
  often worse than the problem itself.
• False teachers will boast about your
  spirituality because you are unsure about an
  issue they consider traditional. They will try
  to separate you from brethren rather than bring
  unity through struggle and study. (2 Cor 114,
  19-20)

69
How Satan uses doubt

• 2 Corinthians 114 (NKJV)
• For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom
  we have not preached, or if you receive a
  different spirit which you have not received, or
  a different gospel which you have not
  acceptedyou may well put up with it!

70
How Satan uses doubt

• 2 Corinthians 1119-20 (NKJV)
• For you put up with fools gladly, since you
  yourselves are wise! 20For you put up with it if
  one brings you into bondage, if one devours you,
  if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if
  one strikes you on the face.

71
How Satan uses doubt

• Some try to advance their own spirituality by
  constantly introducing doubts and then attacking
  their legalistic brethren.

72
The heart that overcomes doubt

• We cannot win the fight without a pure heart.

73
The heart that overcomes doubt

• We cannot win the fight without a pure heart.
• How did Nathanael overcome his doubt? (John
  146-49)

74
The heart that overcomes doubt

• John 146-49 (NKJV) - And Nathanael said to him,
  Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip
  said to him, Come and see.47Jesus saw Nathanael
  coming toward Him, and said of him, Behold, an
  Israelite indeed, in whom is no
  deceit!48Nathanael said to Him, How do You know
  me?

75
The heart that overcomes doubt

• Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip
  called you, when you were under the fig tree, I
  saw you. 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him,
  Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King
  of Israel!

76
The heart that overcomes doubt

• There are many things that can divide our hearts
  and block answers that we dearly
  need. (James 16-7)

77
The heart that overcomes doubt

• James 16-7 (NKJV)
• But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for
  he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven
  and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man
  suppose that he will receive anything from the
  Lord

78
The heart that overcomes doubt

• We must fight against the pride that looks at men
  and weights the possible consequences of
  accepting a new truth. (Jn 541-44)

79
The heart that overcomes doubt

• John 541-44 (NKJV)
• I do not receive honor from men. 42 But I know
  you, that you do not have the love of God in you.
  43 I have come in My Fathers name, and you do
  not receive Me if another comes in his own name,
  him you will receive. 44 How can you believe, who
  receive honor from one another, and do not seek
  the honor that comes from the only God?

80
The heart that overcomes doubt

• Men will often disappoint us. Those men may
  believe different things.

81
The heart that overcomes doubt

• Men will often disappoint us. Those men may
  believe different things.
• Let us never be of the mind to reject the truth
  of a matter because of the actions
  of a few hypocrites. (Rom 34)

82
The heart that overcomes doubt

• Romans 34 (NKJV)
• Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every
  man a liar. As it is written That You may be
  justified in Your words, And may overcome when
  You are judged.

83
The heart that overcomes doubt

• It is my prayer that when you are tested that
  your faith will stand and grow stronger.
• This is what Jesus said to Peter. (Lk 2231-32)

84
The heart that overcomes doubt

• Luke 2231-32 (NKJV)
• And the Lord said, Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan
  has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
  32But I have prayed for you, that your faith
  should not fail and when you have returned to
  Me, strengthen your brethren.

85
The heart that overcomes doubt

• What was the sifting like for Peter? It was for
  his good.
• Will you begin to turn your doubts to certainty?
• Sometimes doubt is what you need to change
  directions. Will your doubt lead to faith or
  unbelief?