Priorities Straight
Notes
Transcript
Priorities are an intergral part of daily existence. The Lord Jesus set the example of placing the will of God first and foremost in His life, and in this lesson we will see His forceful rebuke of Peter’s seemingly well-meaning attempt to get Him off-track from His duty to God and the fallen mankind.
Maybe you have heard someone say this; “To get things done, you need to organize, deputize, and supervise.” While this is true, there is probably a word that should precede those: prioritize. It is important to get things done, but it is even more important to get the right things done. While there are many good things we can be doing, it is vital that we seek to do the best things.
What is most astounding to me about the moment in Peter’s life that we are about to learn from- is that it came on the heels of Peter’s bold declarations of who he believed Jesus to be.
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Surely this was a man who knew what was really important, but evidently Peter had more to learn. The education of a disciple is never quite finished.
In this passage, we learn that to live by the best priorities requires denying ourselves as we seek to do God’s will for our lives.
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Devotion to Duty
Devotion to Duty
In all aspects of life, the Lord is the best example for every believer. The central theme of all that He did on Earth was simply this: He came to fulfill the will of His Father.
At the age of 12 he told Mary and Joseph
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
He kept that priority throughout His life. Later in the Garden of Gethsemane He told His Father
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
A great respect is rightly given to those who fulfill their duty. The famous Civil War General
Robert E. Lee- “Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.”
Jesus Had to go
Jesus Had to go
In Matthew 16:21 and Mark 8:31, Jesus taught His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, Must suffer, must be rejected, and must be killed. He knew every detail of the events ahead of Him, yet Luke adds this detail.
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
This was literally His sacred duty, and He walked toward it with steadfast determination. Christians must understand there are times when Christ calls us to go to places where we might have to suffer or pay for our faith. Though our human reaction is to look for the easy way out, we must instead be willing to do the Lord’s will, no matter what. The Christian life will have times of hardship and sufferings. Jesus promised as much to His disciples.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
The natural response to difficulty or danger is to flee from it. During the Crimean War, British cavalrymen were ordered to charge the Russian forces, despite almost guaranteed death. These dedicated and obedient soldiers followed the command, not because they wanted to, but because it was their duty. Alfred Lord Tennyson depicted their attitude in the poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” “Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die, Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred.”
Today, Christ is looking for faithful soldiers of the cross who will go where He wants them to go. When we follow the Lord’s commands, we please our Saviour.
Paul says this to young Timothy
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
This type of soldier will hear the praise of “well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
The Lord’s plan for our life may led us into danger, or death. Christ knew that obeying the Father would require His death on the cross, yet He still went.
Jesus had to die
Jesus had to die
Throughout time, God has required death in order for there to be life. since the fall of man in Genesis 3, when God slew and animal to provide a covering for Adam, blood has been the only way of salvation.
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Jesus’ mission of Earth was to die to shed His blood for the sin of mankind. Had He refused, we couldn’t be forgiven of our sin and we would die without hope.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Distraction from Duty
Distraction from Duty
Satan will use anything to dissuade us and distract us from what we ought to do. if he can’t get us to go against God totally, he’ll settle fro getting us off-tract- even if only a little bit. Sometimes the distractions are obvious and easier to combat. other times they are subtle. But sometimes, those distractions come from people who are close or even genuinely love us.
The devil may not try to trap us with gross sin. If he can just distract us form the Lord’s will for our life, he has succeeded. The scripture makes clear the importance of staying on course in our lives.
Proverbs 4:20-27
As Jesu prepared to fulfill the father’s will at the cross, the devil tried to distract Him with one of His closest friends.
How often did Peter remember those words form Christ in the coming years? He knew many times he had disappointed the Lord, but recalling the time he actually tried to talk the Lord out of His Father’s mission had to be one of his biggest regrets. In life, the devil will attempt to dissuade us from following Christ, even in the small areas. But we are to resist the devil
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Neither give place to the devil.