Alone With the Almighty, Part 8

We've already looked at the essence of my time with God. We've looked at the relevance of my time with God. And now we're going to look at the consequences of my time with God.

What happens when I spend time with God? And I want to give you just seven basic principles this morning. And there were seven principles under the essence of my time with Him. There were seven under the relevance, and there is seven under the consequence, because seven is the perfect number, the number of completion. And so I'll give you seven benefits, seven consequences that come about in your life as a result of your time alone with the Almighty. Number one is this.

Mark it down carefully. It is this, the certainty of transformation. The certainty of transformation. There's one thing you can be certain of when you go alone with the Almighty. Open His word, commune with Him, have Him speak to you. There is the certainty of transformation. We have looked at 2 Corinthians 3, 18 a number of times throughout this eight-week study. But let me remind you of those words once again, that when we all with unveiled face, behold as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, our lives, the text says, are transformed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by God's Holy Spirit.

When we look into the word of God, God's Spirit reveals to us God, and the Bible tells us there is the certainty of transformation. That tells me that if you are alone with the Almighty, your life's going to be transformed. It's a guaranteed fact. You can't be in God's word without your life being transformed. If you're a child of God, God's Spirit will speak to you, and God's Spirit will take His words and reproduce them in your life and transform your life. There are many people today who claim Christianity, who spend time in the word of God, who spend time under the word of God, but their lives aren't being transformed.

I want to question their Christianity. I want to question their commitment. Why? Because the Bible guarantees a transformation of the soul when you look into the word of God, because God's Spirit metamorphosizes your life. Turn with me over to 1 Thessalonians 2 for a reason.

We also constantly thank God that when you receive from us the word of God's message, you accept it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. That tells you of the effective power of God's word. You receive from us this message, not as the word of men, but as it really is the word of God, and this word of God works in those who believe. That is, there is an effective measure happening in your life as a result of God's word, because God's Spirit lives in you, and God's Spirit uses God's word to transform your life.

So I want to let you know that if you are alone with the Almighty, there is the certainty of transformation. If you want your changed, you be alone with God. If you want your life just to remain as it is, God forbid, then don't spend time with God. But if you want your life to be metamorphosized, then you spend time with God, and the scripture guarantees the certainty of transformation. God will change your life, because it's all about His word. It says over in chapter 1 of that same epistle, in 1 Thessalonians 9, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you, how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for a Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus who delivers us from the wrath of God.

It tells us about that effective work of the word in the life of these people. Number one, they were ones who walked courageously.

Why? Because they turned from their idols to serve the living and true God. Not only did they walk courageously, but they would worship God wholeheartedly. They served the living and true God. They worshiped Him, and they waited expectantly. They waited for His Son, His appearing. There's something about the word of God that causes you to walk courageously, that causes you to worship with your whole heart, that causes you to wait expectantly for the return of Jesus Christ, because the certainty of transformation is a guaranteed reality to all those who are alone with the Almighty.

Number two, victory over temptation. Victory over temptation. Not only is there the certainty of transformation, but there is the victory over temptation. The Bible says in Psalm 119 verse number nine, how does a young man keep his way pure?

Answer, by taking heed to the word of God. First Peter 1.22 says that our souls are purified in obedience to the truth.

Someone has once said that dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives. That's true. Someone else has said that either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the book. That too is true. Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter four.

Matthew chapter four, about victory over temptation, a very familiar passage of scripture. But let me begin in chapter three at the baptism of Jesus.

It says in verse number 16, and after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened. Then he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him, and behold, the voice out of the heavens saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The point of all that is that if Jesus Christ's life pleases God the Father, Satan isn't happy. That's where Matthew four comes in, the temptation of Christ. All that to say is that if you are alone with the Almighty, spending time with God, enhancing your relationship with Him, God is pleased.

If God is pleased, Satan is not. Therefore, Satan will bring every kind of temptation into your life that he possibly can. In order for you to gain victory over that temptation, you need to be alone with the Almighty. As we've talked about the whole process of memorization, and meditation, and mortification, that you might be able to manifest the life of Christ, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. How do you do that? You take the belt of truth, and you gird yourself with that.

You take the sword of the Spirit that you might be able to handle the trickery of Satan. And that is best illustrated in Matthew chapter four. Because God the Father was pleased with God the Son, Satan himself wasn't. It says in verse number one, then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he then became hungry. The tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Are you the Son of God? You know what Satan does here? He says this, if you're the Son of God, the Son of God has no business being hungry. No business at all being hungry. You're the Son of God. You don't deserve to be hungry. You should always be well fed. And isn't that Satan's lie to us? You don't deserve to be poor. You need to be rich.

You don't deserve to be treated that way. You're better than that. You don't deserve to have these kind of consequences come into your life, because you're a child of God. And no child of God should suffer hardship and affliction and adversity. That's Satan's lie, right? So what does Christ say? It is written, man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He used scripture for victory over temptation. Remember back in Ephesians 6, the sword of the Spirit?

It speaks of the specific aspect of the Word of God. The Word of God is used to tackle every specific temptation that comes your way. And so Christ would counteract that temptation by taking Satan to the scriptures that would help Satan see, as well as solidify once again in the mind of the Son of Man that the truth of God's Word stands supreme. Now the remarkable thing about this is that Jesus Christ didn't have to quote scripture, because if he said anything it would have been scripture, right?

But he would quote scripture to give you an example on how you resist the evil one. So what does Satan do? Satan turns the tables. And now Satan uses scripture to tempt the Lord God. Then the devil took him into a holy city and he had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written, he will give his angels charge concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. I want to let you know something, Satan knows the Bible better than you do.

He knows the Bible better than I do. In fact, Satan has the entire Bible memorized. You don't. He knows it all word for word. And so he'll use scripture to convince you to sin. He'll use scripture to tempt you to turn away from the living God. He would tempt God by giving him instant satisfaction. You don't deserve that. Do this. He tempted him by giving him instant security. Throw yourself off the tower. And doesn't the Bible say that his angels will have charge over you. The angels of God will protect you.

You are secure. You have nothing to fear. And Christ would respond once again, on the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Listen, Satan can take any portion of any passage and get you to sin. Did you know that? He can take any part of scripture and get you to turn away from the living God. That's why you must know the word of God, that you might use the sword of the spirit to resist Satan and to handle his trickery. And Satan goes on and says, again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

And he said to him, all these things will I give you if you fall down and worship me. He tried for instant satisfaction. He tried for instant security. And now he tries for instant success. Instantaneous success. It can all be yours. You're the son of man. You don't have to do the cross thing. The cross thing is a bad thing. I'm going to give you everything that's yours anyway. Just fall down and worship me. You don't have to go the way of the cross. All the kingdoms of the world will be yours. They're all yours.

I want to give them to you. I'm the prince of the power of the air. They all belong to me anyway. I'm the supreme usurper. I control them all. I'll give them all to you. Just fall down and worship me and you will have instant success. You can bypass the cross. You can bypass Gethsemane. You can bypass all the beatings. You can even bypass your death. It's all yours. Christ came back. Be gone, Satan. I love that. Get lost, you fool. Get out of here. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

I love verse 11. Then the devil left him. Why did he leave him? Because he couldn't win. That's why. James 4 7. Resist the devil and he will flee. Resist him. He'll flee. How do you resist him? With the sword of the spirit. With the belt of truth. Know the word of God. Alone with the Almighty gives you victory over temptation. Gives you the certainty of transformation. And number three, gives you the beauty of manifestation.

The beauty of manifestation. Turn with me to John 14. John chapter 14 verse number 21. John 14 is that ending discourse with Christ and his disciples right before his crucifixion. That last night he was with his men as he tries to comfort their troubled souls. Helping them to understand the supreme truths that would keep them in tune with him. And in John 14 verse number 21 he says this. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me and he who loves me shall be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him.

Folks listen. God wants to disclose himself to you. He wants you to see him. Let me ask you a question.

Have you seen Jesus Christ? Have you seen him? You say how can I see Jesus? He's spirit. God is spirit. He is invisible. How on earth can I see Jesus? The Bible says blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

The Bible says you want a manifestation of God. You want to see God. God says I want to disclose myself to you.

If you hear my words and you keep my commandments, I guarantee you this one fact that I will manifest myself to you. I will disclose my hidden presence to you and you will see me like no one else has ever seen me. Folks that is an amazing truth. There is no excuse for us not to see Jesus Christ in the pages of the scriptures. To come to a full understanding of who he is and what he wants to do in our lives. That is so important. Job said in Job 42 verse number 5. I have heard of you or my ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

Did God show up and say hey Job here I am? No. Job was able to get a spiritual glimpse of God that he never had before that helped him understand adversity in his life, help him understand trouble in his life and turmoil in his life. When you see God you can handle difficulty. It's when you don't see God you mishandle all difficulty. That's why you are alone with the Almighty. The beauty of manifestation. There is nothing more beautiful than Jesus Christ manifesting himself to you in his word. He wants to reveal himself.

Have you seen God? Have you encountered the living God? Do you know who he is and what he's about? That's what the scriptures teach. He says I promise I'm going to disclose my hidden presence to you. Same word used in Matthew 27 of those people who were dead and upon the resurrection of Christ many people were raised from the dead and their presence, their hidden presence was now disclosed to the world. Christ says I want you to see me.

Do you see him? Not with the physical eye, with the spiritual eye. The pure in heart are guaranteed the reality of seeing God. My alone time with the Almighty gives me the certainty of transformation, gives me the victory over temptation, gives me the beauty of manifestation, and number four gives me the quality in evangelization. Quality in evangelization. Turn with me to first Timothy chapter four for a moment.

First Timothy chapter four Paul talks about the quality of evangelization. What makes our message so believable is because we have a life that is so credible and when you have a life that is so credible then what happens is that people tend to believe what you say because your life backs up your message and Paul tells Timothy, Timothy you've got to discipline yourself unto godliness. This is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance Timothy. You need to grasp this. You need to understand this that bodily exercise profits little but discipline and the godliness profits for things that are eternal.

So you need to discipline yourself in the ways of God, in the words of God that you become more and more Christ like and beyond that Timothy you need to show yourself an example. First Timothy 4 12.

You need to be a pattern in your life. Your speech, your life, your faith, your love, your purity needs to a supreme example. He goes on to say Timothy you need to give yourself to the teaching, to the exhortation of scripture, to the study of scripture Timothy. Pour yourself into the word of God so that you might accurately proclaim the word of God. He says in verse number 15 these words take pains with these things be absorbed in them so that your progress may be evident to all. Timothy you need to meditate upon these things.

Your life needs to be absorbed in the truth of God's holy word and then verse number 16 pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching persevering these things for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. Those who hear you. The quality of evangelization. It comes about because my message is so believable because they can't look at my life and judge my words and say there is not equality there.

And Paul says to Timothy when there's equality between conduct, character, and creed you will ensure salvation for yourself and for those who hear you. You will persevere in the truth and perseverance is the genuine mark of true Christianity. John 8 31 if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you are truly my disciples, you are truly one of mine. And not only will you persevere but those who hear your message those who see your life they will become saved as well. The quality of evangelization.

Number five the probability of reproduction. The probability of reproduction. Turn with me to 2nd Timothy chapter 3.

2nd Timothy chapter 3 just a few pages over. 2nd Timothy chapter 3 Paul says this in verse number 10 but you Timothy follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me and indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and apostles will proceed from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived.

You however Timothy continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of knowing from whom you have learned them and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training, and righteousness that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work. Chapter 4 verse number 1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom preach the word.

Be ready in season and of season reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. Timothy listen you need to understand that if you follow my teaching, if you follow my life, if you live in congruence to what you have learned how that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures Timothy. You have known the sacred writings that give you wisdom toward salvation and those writings are inspired by God. They're profitable for all things that you may be thoroughly equipped so therefore you preach the word Timothy.

Why? Because that life needs to be reproduced in someone else. That's why in second Timothy 2 Paul says that we are to teach faithful men who in turn will be able to entrust these teachings to others also.

Why? Because our life needs to be reproduced. Listen a life that spends alone time with the almighty needs to be reproduced in someone else's life that they might be alone with the almighty. And when you are alone with God the probability of reproduction, the probability of you duplicating your life, the probability of you living your life through someone else to another generation that they may be able to pass on those truths to another generation excels beyond belief. Why? Because God will honor an obedient life and God will bless an obedient life and God will use your life to impact other people's lives.

The apostle Paul was such a man of God that the people he came in contact with their lives were changed. Their lives were enthusiastic about serving the Lord God. Why? Because his life was so in tune with God. They wanted that kind of life. They wanted more of that so they would glean on to that man to understand him. Number one the certainty of transformation.

Number two victory over temptation. Number three the beauty of manifestation. Number four the quality of evangelization. Number five the probability of reproduction. I'm not going to get through all of them today. I'm afraid of that. But if the peace of Christ is to rule your life then the word of Christ is to reign supreme in your life. Let's pray. Father we thank you for today. We thank you Lord that we could be with you today examining your words that we might somehow express your life. We ask Lord that all of us would adhere to the principles and precepts of your word.

And that Lord we realize that spending time with you is more important than anything in the world. That you'll transform our lives. You'll transform us into what you want us to be. Temptation, oh it comes every day. But we can have victory. And that Lord somehow you really truly want to manifest yourself to us. And if we keep your commandments, abide in them, you will do that. And that our testimony of outreach to the world will be one of deep quality. And then the ability to reproduce that Christian life in the life of somebody else will enhance.

And Lord those who spend a long time with you, that's our heart's desire. We really want you on display. We pray these things in Jesus glorious name. Amen.