Passion (जुनून)

Date of Sermon Delivery: 5. mar. 2023

Place of sermon Delivery:  Delhi, India

Sunday Worship Service

Speaker: Jatin Bisht

Title : Passion (जुनून)

Bible : Acts 1:6–8

Key verse:

Praise the Lord.

My lovely brothers and sisters.

Welcome to the presence of God.

How are you?

It is wonderful that you are all well and are able to see each other today.

Last Sunday was amazing for me; I felt his faithfulness again.

The biggest challenge we had was the weather, as the warm season started in February, so we were all praying for good weather.

God has not only given us good weather but also good worship, a beautiful message (surrender your burden to God), delicious food, especially French toast, sorry everyone food was so delicious),  good games, and amazing fellowship.

Thank you very much for all your service.

 

Today, before we begin the sermon, I'd like to ask you a question.

How is your spiritual life?

It is very important for our spiritual life to be fine.

Because in our lives, some difficulties are small and some are big.

But our biggest difficulty is not that we do not have money, that we are sick, or that we are facing lack in our family; rather, our biggest difficulty is that we see our difficulties as we should not see them.

Our thinking is our big difficulty.

Sometimes we enlarge the trouble so much in our thoughts, that it effects our health, emotions, and behavior.

Many people are depressed right now because of their current life situation, relationship, future, work, and so on.

 

Whatever difficulties you have—whether it is with your marriage, whether it is with your finances, whether it is with your relationship—whatever they may be.

God will resolve it within seconds, but we suffer a lot in your mind for this.

 

Even though I am not different from you, I am also thinking. If something happens, I will also think and think. But quickly I hold the word of God, trust in it, and fight with myself.

As Paul says, I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7).

Do you know what kind of fight he had?

When thoughts come up and you deny them and believe God’s word, then thoughts come up again and you again believe God’s word, this is called fighting the good fight of faith.

Our difficulties are not with what is going on, our problem is with our thinking.

How are we taking it?

Last Sunday, we heard from Matthew 11:28.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

 

Why did not Jesus say, "Come to me, and I will bless you financially first?"

No doubt God gives us our financial needs also. (David says the Lord is my shepherd, and I lack nothing.).

But the reason Jesus said, "Come to me, and I will give you rest, and not, "I will give you a big car, a big house, or a lot of gold," is because He knew, that the human first need is inner rest.

The authors of the New Testament mention very little about how the Israelites escaped from Egypt, but they do mention several times that the Israelites were unable to enter into inner rest.

We also came out of the world, but have we entered into that Christ’s rest?

If yet you have not entered into the rest of Christ.

Then say to God, "God, I want to enter into your rest."

God does not want that we may move here and there; God does not want in our hearts that we may lose. But he wants that we may be stable in him.

Dear brothers and sisters.

If you want to enter God’s rest, then put aside your difficulties and focus on God.

Do not just read the Bible, or do not just spend your quiet time meditating. But imply it in your heart.

This is the only way to move into the rest of God.

Let us now turn to today's Bible reading, Acts 1:6-8.

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

 

Let me pray.

 

 

This was the last time Jesus met with his disciples.

And before Jesus left, the disciple had asked Jesus one thing: "Will you return the kingdom of Israel?"

Here, the disciple's main concern is to ask this question,  Jesus will come and restore Israel,

They were wondering when Jesus would return and when the Romans would leave.

Then Jesus said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or dates."

Today, many people try to find out when Jesus will come, what time the sun will turn into darkness, and when the stars will fall.

But here Jesus is saying, "Do not try to find when I will come; that time will come.

Many people today wonder when the antichrist will come. What is 666 meaning? What will be happen when Jesus will come? What will happen to those who remain here? When is Lord's Day? When is the Christmas date?

But let’s not spend time looking for those things.

It is not wrong to gain knowledge about it.

 

But the Lord is telling them to pay more attention in verse 8.

 

"There is written, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

 

According to the Bible, you must concentrate more on that.Have you received the power?

Young people are obsessed with the end of time, antichrist, the meaning of 666, and the date of Jesus' return.

Or are you passionate about being witnesses for Christ?

 

Why did Jesus say you will receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes on you. ?

What will that power give you?

When Jesus was on the earth 2000 years ago, he met a young man like us. And he was so rich.

When he met Jesus, he asked him a question. (Matthew 19:16-26)

Jesus, what shall I do to get eternal life?

Jesus replied, "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall honour your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Then his young man said,I've done this all my life.

Jesus answered, "You still lack one thing.

Go and sell everything, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

This young man was very perfect in his own eyes, he does not want to get any correction, and I will say that is a bad attitude.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, do not hate or be angry at correction, even if it comes from your elders or younger.

The Bible says if you want to wander (bhatna), then stop listening to correction/truth (2 Timothy 4:4).

I want to ask, "How many of you love to correct?"

In the Bible, Hebrews 12:6

Because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.

In revelation 3:19, Those whom I love, I rebuke and disciple. So be earnest and repent.

 

If God shows any evil in your character, do not run away from it but love it and correct it.

If you have a plant, and it is in the growing stage, you can bend it in any direction. You can move it left or right, and it will take that direction.

But you cannot bend big trees, not even a little.

 

As you are young, bend your life with the word of God; correct yourself. Do not keep the pride that you are right or that you do not need anyone; how can that person give me suggestions or correct me.

It is your young age, live your life with God’s word in the correct way. 

after a few years you grow up, then it will not be so easy to turn yourself around.

Whenever your church tells you something or corrects you something, we go into sadness and want to move out of church, we go into completeness; we go into questioning how that person can say to me like this.

Stop this kind of attitude, God did not call you for this kind of attitude. God did not call me with this kind of attitude.

 

When Jesus met this young man, he thought that he was perfect, and he said, I follow all commandments." Then Jesus said, "You have a lack of one thing, sell everything and give to the poor.

Somewhere, this young man had pride in his money, he depended on it.

Earning or saving money is not wrong, but relying on money, trusting in money, and living on money, will not turn you into a faithful believer.

Money was this young man’s weakness, and Jesus answered this young man, by saying it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

But in the Bible, there were many rich people too, and they followed Jesus.

Here, Jesus wanted to make us understand that it is difficult for a rich man who is dependent on money to enter the kingdom of God because they go again and again into their money, not God.

 

Maybe your weakness will not be money, but in present time, young people's weakness is that they do not want to help others but instead want to impress others. The second thing might be their eyes, many times there is no discipline in our eyes.

Even at last Friday's service, I told you, when David became lazy, he lost his eyesight and his discipline, and he did evil.

In the garden of Eden, Eve first saw the fruit with her eyes, then she ate, and then she fell into sin.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, you all know your weaknesses. Someone may be so addicted to games, someone's eyes may not be pure, someone may be in lust, and someone may be so addicted to a phone.

Still, do you struggle with it?

Then somewhere, we have not yet understood Acts 1:8

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

 

Jab pavitr aatma tum par aayega to tum Samarth paoge.

Lekin kyu? But why?

So that we can overcome those weaknesses, and the one who wins becomes its witness.

Witnessing is not just telling people the gospel.

Witnessing means being a person who manifests Christ in everything you do, in your life, in your character, in your behaviour, in the way you talk, in the way you think, and in the way you look.

First, God wants us to be his witnesses; a witness is a person who has the character of Jesus Christ, and such a character can be shown only on those to whom the Holy Spirit comes and gives power.

We all have the Holy Spirit, but why are we not that powerful?

 

When the Holy Spirit came over Jesus disciples, they were around 30-32 years old, after them, Paul got the Holy Spirit; Timothy became Paul's disciple; and after that, from generation to generation, many great reformers came: John Wesley, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.

They were all in great temptation, they were persecuted, many false words were used for them, they were called false teachers, but they overcame it and served the kingdom of God, because they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Disciples came and went: Paul came and went; Timothy came and went; Martin Luther came and went; John Wesley came and went; there were many who came and, after their work, they went.

But now it is your turn, and it is my turn.

The Lord wants to keep us in that line and make us His witnesses.

It's your turn to stand for God, as a witness.

Continue to pray to God, ask for the power of the Holy Spirit, and be a witness for God, and you will undoubtedly have a victorious life.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, have desire in your hearts, and Lord, make me a person who wins in his weakness and shows Christ in his character.

Increase your boundaries; God wants to bless you in many ways; do not just limit your life to money, jobs, and marriage.

I want to encourage you, to stay in touch with your church and church leader.

Share your weaknesses with them, talk with them, and God will show you the ways.

Be a witness for the Lord.

 

Every day I surrender my weaknesses in front of God, and ask for his forgiveness, I accept my mistakes and say, "Yes, Lord, I did this wrong, correct me. Whenever God is mentioned to me by anyone, I take it seriously, no matter if he is younger or older than me. God is my witness, and I try my best not to repeat those mistakes again.

Even though I am not perfect, I believe my God is perfect, and he is amazing, God is making me his witness day by day, and whoever he has called, he wants to make them a witness.

Dear brothers and sisters,

You know who you are (aapne aap ko pahchaniye ki aap koun ho?)

Arise in your passion, You are God’s priest, you are his letter, fulfil the purpose for which he has called you, finish your race in Jesus.

God loves you a lot.

Hallelujah.

God has a great purpose for your life, and he wants to fulfil that purpose in your life, but it will begin with your desire to be his witness, and then God will use you where he wants to use you.