306 Praise Inspired by Election 307 Prayer Found In the Heart

Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner

1. Praise Inspired by Election Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 3 Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 4-6

2. 2 Samuel 6:21 NIV David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD.

3. David celebrated because the Lord chose him to rule His people. The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Saints in Thessalonica God chooses those who hear the gospel call letting the Spirit do His sanctifying work and believe in the truth. There’s a stern warning not to be taken by false teaching. You must STAND FIRM.

4. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 NIV Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

5. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

6. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

7. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

8. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

9. 10b They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 12 so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. Yes, we also would be damned in false religion had not 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. This fact humbles us before God and inspires our hearts to sing His praise with David.

10. Psalms 65:4 NIV Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. Here are three reasons for which every believer should continually offer praise and thanksgiving to God.

11. Before the world was made, the eternal God set His heart upon us. He loves us with an everlasting love. In His great love, God chose us and determined to save us by the substitutionary sacrifice of His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. “ Blessed are those you choose ” We were chosen by God in eternal love.

12. At the time appointed, God sent His Spirit to us, revealing Christ in the gospel, and gently, tenderly, effectually, calls us to come to Him in faith. Aren’t you thankful God chose those who will believe the truth & not perish? “ Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts .” We have been called by divine grace.

13. We are satisfied with all the needs of our souls here by the goodness of God’s grace and providence. And we shall be satisfied with all the goodness of God in eternal glory. Psalms 17:15 NIV As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of God’s house.

14. Prayer Found In the Heart Sermon adapted from, Discovering Christ Day by Day, David Fortner April 4 Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 7-10

15. 2 Samuel 7:27 NIV "LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.

16. Prayer is one of those holy, spiritual activities that is better practiced than written about or discussed. It is an intensely personal activity, an activity that modesty always keeps hidden away in the closet, out of public view. I do not pretend to know much about prayer. But I do know prayer is a subject about which there is much confusion.

17. Because there is so much confusion about prayer, it might be wise for us to meditate for a brief while today on three simple facts revealed in this verse of Holy Scripture about prayer. May God the Holy Spirit, the Inspirer and Creator of all true prayer, stamp these three things upon our hearts and minds.

18. First , true prayer arises from the heart. It is a heart work. David did not find a prayer in his books, or in his memory, or even in his mouth, but in his heart. Far too often, I fear, my prayers arise from my lusts, my personal desires, rather than from a heart of faith that seeks the will and glory of God. Heart Work

19. James 4:2 NIV You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

20. God listens only to what the heart speaks in prayer. He has no regard for the sounds of our mouths, or the thoughtless, selfish, self-centered desires of our flesh. Therefore, we should carefully weigh our words before God, and prepare our hearts to pray. Robert Murray McCheyne once wrote, “A great part of my time is spent getting my heart in tune for prayer.”

21. Yet, we ought to approach God with the simplicity of a child speaking to his father, with absolute confidence and sincerity. John Trapp wrote, “God respected not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how long they are; nor the music of our prayers, how methodical they are, but the divinity of our prayers, how heart sprung they are. Not gifts, but graces prevail in prayer.”

22. Secondly , if prayer is found in the heart, God put it there. Prayer is the communication of a believer’s spirit with God, who is Spirit, by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit. He teaches us to pray by showing us what the will of God is. Divinely Inspired

23. He does this by His Word, by His providence, and by putting a burden upon our hearts that will not go away. Then He graciously inclines our hearts to pray, to seek what God has purposed to do. He has many ways of doing that.

24. Psalms 107:1 NIV Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

25. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, 11 because they rebelled against God's commands and despised the plans of the Most High. 12 So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. 13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

26. 14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. 15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 16 for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. 17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. 18 They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.

27. 19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. 21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. 22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. 23 Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.

28. 24 They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. 25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. 26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. 27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits' end.

29. 28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

30. Thirdly , God will perform the thing that He puts in our hearts to seek by earnest prayer. True prayer is seeking the will of God by the Spirit of God, through faith in the Son of God. Whatever we ask according to His will, He will do. God’s Promise

31. 1 John 5:14 NIV This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

32. Prayer is not an attempt by man to conform God to his will, but the cry of a heart conformed by grace to God’s will. It is breathing out to God what God has breathed into our souls. “ Lord, teach us to pray !” Luke 11:1 NIV One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

33. HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS?

34. Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

35. He was buried and rose on the third day.

36. When He did this He solved 2 problems we all have. He solved our sin problem because He nailed our sins to the cross; & He solved our grave problem when He rose from the dead because it proved we could also rise from the dead.

37. Jesus said, if we want to get in on of all this we must . . . BE BORN AGAIN. FOLLOW HIM; &

38. ISN’T THAT GREAT NEWS? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH TODAY?

39. Mark 16:15 NIV  He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Numbers 6:24 NIV '"The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.“’