Who Am I Really Looking to for Inspiration Each Day?

Pastor Mike Fabarez: It's really not about what I want; it's really about what you, Father, want. That's Jesus's pattern for us. And here it is: yet not what I will, but what you will. God, I'm about doing what you want, not just about doing what I want or avoiding what I don't want. So I want to fulfill the path that you have for me, and I'm not going to take any shortcuts.
Guest (Male): Today on Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez. When you're working towards a goal, who do you look to for inspiration? Perhaps it's a motivational leader or an accomplished athlete. While these models can be helpful, no one sets a better standard than Jesus Christ. That's exactly what we're learning today as Pastor Mike Fabarez continues a study called Our Fight with Sin. And if you're new to Focal Point, let us know online, and we'll send you a free copy of Pastor Mike's newest booklet that complements this study. Go to focalpointradio.org. Well, now here's Pastor Mike with his message, Keeping Our Focus on Christ.
Pastor Mike Fabarez: Baseball is starting up for the two Little Leaguers in my house, and I gotta tell you, I am glad that they're now of an age where the kids on their team actually want to be there. It's just great. They actually are coming because they care about baseball now. It's just been hard to watch over the years and impossible to cheer for those kids that step into the batter's box and they're clearly not even trying. Kind of shrugs his shoulders and kind of waves at his mom in the stands and skips back to the dugout. It's like you don't even care. No, I'm super glad that my kids are now getting to the age in Little League and it seems like the more they grow and the older they grow, it's like the more serious they are when they step into the batter's box. I just love that. They get in and they do not want to strike out. They hate striking out, and they want to hit that ball. They're not there for team pictures. It ain't about the uniforms anymore. It's not being part of the club. It's about hitting that ball through the infield. I love that. It's about trying to get one over the fence. They have this passion for that. And my two, when they come home, they reiterate that by their big baseball card trades that go on all the time. They've got their growing baseball card selection and they never pick up a card and go, "Oh, I like his haircut," or, "Aren't the team colors here really cool?" They never do that. They're always trading these cards back and forth and they're holding them up and going, "Dude." They always start with that sentence. "Dude," they say, "this guy, have you ever seen him hit the ball, Dad? This guy put one in the upper deck last week, you should have seen it." And that's all they care about. And I love that. They've got their heroes that do it right, and they have a passion to get in that batter's box at the next Little League game and hit one through the infield. Love that. The writer of Hebrews has been dealing with us if you've been with us through our study of Hebrews, and in a lot of ways, he's like a coach looking at his team and he's saying, "Guys, let's grow up. It's time to grow up." Remember back in Chapter 6: "By this time you ought to be teachers." This isn't T-ball anymore. It's time for you to get in the batter's box and care about what you're doing. He's constantly done that. He says, "Grow up, care about it, care about your growth, your sanctification. When Satan throws stuff at you, you ought to hate striking out. You ought to always want to do the right thing. It ought to be a growing passion for your life." And then in Chapter 11, he pulls out a drawer full of baseball cards, right? And he starts holding them up to his church and he says, "Guys, look at this." He pulls out the Ty Cobbs and the Ted Williams and the Babe Ruths of the Christian life and he says, "Look at these guys, look at their faith, look at how they did this, look at how they were willing at their own personal cost and their own personal sacrifice to follow God. Don't you want to follow Christ like that?" He keeps holding these pictures up. After all of that, the summary statement last week we looked at in Chapter 12, verse 1: he says, "Since we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, since we have so many people... look at these guys batting .350 in the major leagues." And he says, "Guys, don't you want to grow up and live like these people, defeating the enemy and in their times of trouble, just hitting it out of the park? Don't you want to live like that?" After all of that motivation and persuasion, in Chapter 12, verse 2, he pulls out the ultimate card. He says, "If you're impressed with guys that bat .350, how about Jesus Christ? How about Jesus? Now, here's one for you to fix your mind on, to get your eyes, so to speak, fixated on. This is one who never struck out. You want some motivation? You want some encouragement? Here's Christ, think about him." He's already introduced him in Chapter 4 as the one who was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Here's one that every time Satan threw stuff at him, every time there was an opportunity for compromise, he stood the test. And he says, "Look at him. Keep your mind fixed here." Take a look at it with me. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2. He puts it very simply: Fix your eyes on Jesus. Let's do that. Fix your eyes on Jesus. He is the author and the perfecter of our faith. And you want to talk about his difficulties that he faced, how about the cross? Now, remember this: "Who for the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame." And when he was all done, he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him, get your mind there, fixate on this one. He endured such opposition from sinful men. And as you consider that, I hope it motivates you. He says, "So that you will not grow weary and lose heart." When you're tempted to compromise, when you're put in the hot seat, when it's a difficult time for you, I don't want you to quit. Let Jesus be a motivation for you. He pulls this out, you've got to know this: from the middle of Chapter 10, we have not seen the word "Jesus" on the pages of the book of Hebrews. It's been a long time. And then he says, "Okay, after all that buildup, all the greats who have ambitious faith," he says, "look at the author and the perfecter of our faith who, when he was in a trial, he did the right thing." If we're going to follow the command here, it's very explicit, it's very clear: fix our eyes on Jesus, consider him. If he's going to be the focal point of our thoughts in the midst of our own temptations and trials, we've got to know something about him. He shouldn't be the Jesus of our imagination; he should be the Jesus of reality. And that means—jot this down—you and I, we need to study the life of Christ. We need to study the life of Christ. We don't want a Christ of your own imagination to fixate on. We don't want just some ethereal, transcendent "I just really can't even identify with" picture of Christ. We need the real Christ, the Jesus of the Bible. And if the Bible is telling us to fixate on him and somehow he's going to help us not grow weary and lose heart in our trials, then I need to know more about him. I need to get into the life of Christ, and I mean that literally. I know we read through the Bible every year, and I hope your mind and your heart is constantly drawn back to open up your Bibles to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and get that picture of this Christ who is the author and perfecter of our faith. It's great to learn about Gideon and Moses and Abraham, but Jesus Christ is the focal point. He's the centerpiece. And we ought to be spending more time reading, studying, and even memorizing the words and actions of Christ in the Gospels. We need to get that picture of Christ. And if you've never read through the Gospels with the full stereophonic, quadraphonic effect, then you need to get what we call a "harmony of the Gospels" or a synopsis that puts them all together and get the full picture and get yourself in the sandals of the life of Christ. Don't let your fixation on Christ be the wrong Christ. Let it be the Jesus Christ of the Bible. If I'm going to fix my eyes on him, if I'm going to consider him, I've got to know Jesus, the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible. If I do that and I think about the temptations that I face, I'm immediately going to be drawn to learn from Christ by his temptations. And if you have your Bibles, turn to Matthew Chapter 4 because here is a classic example of Jesus being confronted by temptation. I know he's God, I get it. God cannot be tempted by sin, I get it. But in his humanity, he is there as our representative and as Hebrews 4 says, he's been tempted in every way as we are. Everything was thrown at him to compromise. Everything was thrown at him: the same kinds of temptation you face, he faced them. And one of the classic examples of that, if I'm going to learn about how he dealt with that, I need to remember Matthew Chapter 4. That's just a classic passage. Look at verse number 1. "Then Jesus, led by the Spirit into the desert... he was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." The Spirit had no problem with this showdown. It was going to be instructive for us. It was going to be confirming for everyone. And so after fasting—verse 2—for forty days and forty nights... I know it's almost comical after that lead-in, three words: "He was hungry." Duh. Haven't eaten for a long time out there fasting, praying, seeking God. And all of a sudden, I'm realizing I'm pretty hungry after a month of this. And so he's hungry, which is a great place to start because so much of our temptations come through our fleshly or human impulses, our appetites. They're not always for food, but they're issues of our bodies crying out for some satisfaction. It's like Peter says: it's like the flesh has all these impulses that are waging war against our soul. So it's interesting to see how does he deal with it when his flesh is crying out for something? Well, here comes the temptation. Look at verse number 3. "The tempter came to him and said, 'Hey, if you're the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'" And a lot of you Sunday school graduates are going, "I know that, I read that." Really? I want to ask you: what's the big deal? I mean, if you had power to turn stones into cheeseburgers and you're hungry, you going to use that? I'm going to use that big time. I'm hungry. Poof! Fatburger with cheese, steak fries. There's some plants over there, steak fries, poof! Big Pepsi. What's the big deal? You got the power, right? You got the power, use it. Do it. What's the problem here? In your margin, jot down Philippians Chapter 2. Please remember this about the temptation of Christ to satisfy his appetites. Remember this: he came to fulfill all righteousness. He came laying aside the independent exercise of his divine attributes. That's a mouthful. But the concept in Philippians 2 is this: that though he existed in the very nature as God, that he... it's the Greek word "kenosis," he emptied himself. Or as the NIV says, he made himself nothing. He was found in the appearance as a man. He was put into human form to live like we live. Why? Because he was going to fulfill all righteousness. He was going to do what we could not do. To get into heaven, I've got to have a resume that says I did it right. And I didn't do it right, and you didn't do it right. We need the resume that did it right. So Jesus, second person of the Godhead, is coming to put on human form to live that out. Now, one thing you and I don't have is the ability to turn rocks into hamburgers. We can't do that. So that when we have a impulse or a need or an appetite, we have to look for some legitimate way to fulfill that. And if we're going to be godly, we have to look for some godly way to fulfill that. And if you're out there and you're deprived of something, we need to pray and trust that God will somehow provide. Now, you're saying, "Now, wait a minute, Jesus did use his miraculous powers." Oh, he did. He did. But remember how he used them, according to the book of John: always in full submission to the Father. "I don't do anything," he says, "on my own accord. I'm doing this as the Father directs me." In full submission to the Father. And the Father, when Jesus was hungry, didn't say, "Well, just make yourself some bread out of the stones." He had to look to the Father to say, "How will I fulfill this need?" And you know, when he did exercise his miraculous power, it was to establish his deity before men. This was not it. This was to fill his stomach when it was hungry. And that wasn't going to work. This was a use of his power in an illegitimate way to fulfill a personal need in his life. And Satan says, "Come on, you can do it, why don't you do it? You can fulfill it this way. I know God's path is over here, but just fulfill it like this and then you'll have your needs met." And Jesus's response, and that's why it's so telling, he says in verse number 4: Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" In other words, if I'm going to stay alive out here and I'm hungry and I'm famished, it's going to be because God wants me to stay alive. And even if I had food, I wouldn't stay alive were it not for the sovereign oversight of God. And so the bottom line is, I'm trusting God. I'm not trusting in shortcuts to satisfy my needs. Now, does that starting to feel a little bit more like a temptation we have? There are times when you can satisfy the impulses of your life, but you know it's not the path that God has drawn out for us. That's what our teenagers, for instance, are all struggling with. They have the impulses of their life, and here's God's plan. Well, sexual relations are reserved for marriage, and yet they could satisfy that. But we're saying, "Oh no, take God's path." It's the same thing, that's a basic temptation. Adultery, same way. All kinds of other shortcuts in God's plan, same way. You could fulfill that, but if you did, you'd have to shortcut God's plan. God's plan was for Jesus to be fully dependent on the Father and to exercise his divine attributes only as the Father allowed him. And this was not one of them, to satisfy his own appetite. So he has to respond by saying, "It is written," which is telling again. If we're going to learn from the life of Christ, we're going to learn this: when he's hit with temptation, he seems to always be going back to the Bible. "It is written." And then he quotes his favorite book. And since you've studied the life of Christ, you all know what that is, right? He quotes it more than any other book in the New Testament. What is it? You've looked at your small print, haven't you? The book of Deuteronomy. He quotes Deuteronomy. He does that twice in this passage. And he says, "Here's what the Bible says. It's not by bread alone that man's going to live. It's going to be by every word, by the sovereign decree coming out of the mouth of God. And so I'm not going to shortcut God's plan. I'm going to rely on him to feed me." So the devil said, "Okay, if you only exercise your divine attributes to display to the world who you are, I got a great way to do it. We can do one of those right now." Verse number 5. Devil took him to a holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple, the holy city, that's Jerusalem. And he said, "Okay, if you're the Son of God, and if that's the whole concern here, and if that's how you utilize your divine attributes, throw yourself down because, hey, and if you can quote the Bible, I can quote it too. It is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up,' it says, 'in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone,'" quoting Psalm 91. "I can quote the Scriptures too. And here's the deal: exercise some power here and show everybody that you're the Son of God. That'd be great. Everybody would come to you, bow down to you, it'd be fabulous. Do that." Now, again, in full submission to the Father, laying aside the independent exercise of his attributes, he's relying on God for those cues, not the tempter. So he's like, "Well, I got an answer for that." Look at the next verse. He says this: "It is also written: 'And you may be quoting Scripture and God may protect me, but I'm not going to put the Lord God to the test because that's what Deuteronomy 6 says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" "Not going to do it. I don't do that. That's not what that passage is all about." So far we're learning a lot. He's committed to the word of God to help him resist temptation. He is committed when his mind is now, because of the tempter, trying to rationalize a shortcut for his own promotion by quoting Scripture... do you ever go through that? There's the temptation and then all of a sudden you get this passage in your mind or this lesson from church and you think, "Well, they did say that. The Bible does say that," and we're trying to justify and rationalize our compromise. And he says, "No, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to let the word be clearly understood. I'm not going to fall to the twisting of Scripture." So the devil, one more. Listen: "If it's all about ruling the world, it's all about having all the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, then here, I can shortcut that right now." Verse number 8. Devil took him to a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said, "All this I will give to you." And he said, "Here's all you got to do. You just bow down and worship me." That's an odd passage for people, and it's a whole another sermon, I realize. But according to 2 Corinthians 4:4, we do have, in a very real sense, and the whole concept of redemption is based on... And 1 John Chapter 3 gives us a clear sense that Satan has really got some kind of governance or leadership or lordship, if you will, over the world. God is the owner, he has title on everything, I get it. But there is a real sense, 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, that he is, Satan is, the god of this world. And he says, "Listen, instead of waiting for this whole plan to go through and the cross thing, why don't you just bow down to me now and I'll hand over the apartment? It'll go back to you and you can just have it now, okay? So take it. Little shortcut. You just, all you got to do is a little compromise here and you can get all that stuff without the cross, and all the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of you. You can have it." And his response: "Just get out of here," right? That's what he is. Verse number 10. He says, "Away from me, Satan, for it is written." And again, quote number three from the Scripture... I said twice, but this is the third time, I guess, he's quoting Deuteronomy, still in Chapter 6. He says, "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." "I understand that the goal that you're painting for me is the biblical goal God has for me, but you're creating a shortcut to get there. And I understand it's not selfish in this regard. You are trying to present to me a way to get what God wants for me, but you're giving me a shortcut to get there. I'm not going to take the shortcut, because the shortcut is a compromise in this case." And he says, "Not going to do it." Learn a lot from Christ. When facing temptation, which is the whole point—that I'm supposed to be able to run with endurance this race without hindrance and the sin that so easily entangles me—if I'm going to be like Christ, I need to recognize the word of God is going to play a prominent role in this. A commitment and resolve to keep it, an understanding of it, and an ability to draw it out of my mind. How does a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. And he says, "Here's the deal: your word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. Here's the deal: the Scripture has to play a prominent role." A commitment and a resolve to keep it, an ability to be able to withdraw it out of my mind because I'm memorizing Scripture, my mind is in the Scriptures, and a commitment and an ability to be able to discerningly know when Satan is throwing other biblical concepts at me or verses, that I know that I'm not going to twist it, and I'm not going to take any shortcuts. And it's all based in this particular picture of Jesus's temptation on the word of God. That's insightful. But in our passage, Hebrews Chapter 12, look at it again, the real focal point is not Jesus in the desert being tempted, although that's germane and relevant to this text. The focus here is the cross. And if you think about temptation and the cross, you recognize, well, that was a temptation too. Because the reality of Jesus doing what he was sent here to do was going to be painful and costly. And the temptation here was to say, "Well, maybe I don't want to do that," because obedience has got a big price tag. Maybe I'll stop short of it. Instead of a sin of commission—that's Matthew 4—here, Satan is tempting God in a very real sense through the pain and shame of the cross of a sin of omission, not doing it. And that was the struggle in the garden, was it not? If you still have Matthew warmed up, go from Matthew Chapter 4 to Matthew Chapter 26. That's the other end of his ministry. When he's sitting there on the night he was betrayed, thinking of the betrayal of the leaders of Israel and Rome, and now he was going to go to the cross and be stripped completely naked, be nailed to a Roman execution rack, and have the Father pour the wrath from the sins of the world on him. That was big, and that was shameful, and that was painful, and that was costly. How did he deal with this temptation, the temptation to maybe stop short of fulfilling God's plan? Well, according to Scripture, verse number 36, he's going to go to this little place, quiet little place, base of the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane. Matthew 26:36. And he says to his disciples, "Sit here a while while I go over there and... what's he going to do? Pray." "I need to pray. I'm facing a trial, I'm facing a temptation, I need to pray." And he takes some prayer partners with him, turned out to not be very good ones, but Peter and his two sons of Zebedee, that's James and John. So the inner circle, the three guys, they go with him and he begins to be sorrowful and troubled and he says... here's his prayer to God... "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." I'm sorry, he's saying this to his disciples. "So stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell on his face and fell to the ground and he prayed this. Now he's praying to the Father: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup..." that's a symbolic way of drinking this very bitter cup, this pill, swallowing this bitter pill... he says, "let it be taken from me. I would like to not go through the shame, the pain, the scorn of the cross. I don't want to go through that. And let it be taken from me. But here's the deal: it's really not about what I want, even though that is what I want; it's really about what you, Father, want." That's Jesus's pattern for us. And here it is: yet not what I will, but what you will. No quotation of Scripture here; he's praying and reiterating his resolve to say, "God, I'm about doing what you want, not just about doing what I want or avoiding what I don't want. So I want to fulfill the path that you have for me, and I'm not going to take any shortcuts."
Guest (Male): We're talking about keeping our focus on Christ here on Focal Point. And that's the title of today's message from Pastor and Bible teacher Mike Fabarez. To find it again, just go to focalpointradio.org. And for even more content from Pastor Mike, be sure to download the free Focal Point app. Friend, your support of Focal Point truly makes an eternal impact. The clear biblical teaching you hear on this program is reaching new listeners every day, people who are hungry for the truth of God's word and who need someone to preach it without compromise. If Pastor Mike's teaching has made a difference in your life, we'd love for you to help us share it with others. Consider making a one-time donation today or take your commitment to the next level by joining us as a Focal Point partner and giving monthly. When you automate your gift, your impact is multiplied throughout the year. Call us right now at 888-320-5885, that's 888-320-5885, or become a Focal Point partner online at focalpointradio.org. And as our thanks for your generous gift today, we'll send you a remarkable book by David Klotfelter called Sinners in the Hands of a Good God. This is the kind of resource that reminds us why good theology matters for everyday life. Klotfelter takes a clear-eyed look at the nature of God, his wrath, his justice, and the breathtaking mercy he shows towards sinners who come to him through Christ. If you've ever struggled to hold together the hard edges and the tender heart of the God we serve, this book is for you. Request Sinners in the Hands of a Good God today and be equipped to know and love your God more deeply. Give a gift to Focal Point and make your request by calling 888-320-5885 or go online at focalpointradio.org. Well, that's the end of today's program. Now next time we'll hear a new edition of Ask Pastor Mike Live. What does it mean when Jesus says, "No man has ascended into heaven," in John 3:13? And how does that relate to Elijah and Enoch? We're getting clear biblical answers for real listener questions Friday on Focal Point.
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