Growing In Christ #4
- intro basic truths, growing in Christ
- quickly review "romans" from previous weeks
B. The Holy Spirit doesn't work "mystically"
cf. Charles Solomon - spirituotherapy
1. man commanded to be involved in the process
Rom. 8:13 - (subject of the verb is ______)
II Cor. 7:1
I Tim. 4:7
Eph. 4:1, 4:17
2. metaphors describing great human effort often used
II Tim. 4:7 - fought a good fight
I Tim. 6:11 - flee these things
I Tim. 6:12 - Fight the good fight of faith
Phil. 3:14 - (race) I press toward the mark of the
prize...
- a good summary of this point was made by John Murray who
said:
"...the pilgrimage to perfection [in the eternal state]
is not one of quiescence and inactivity. It is not
'let go and let God.' The journey proceeds the apace
with the most intense exercise on our parts...our
working is not suspended because God works, and God's
working is not suspended because we work. The one is
not superceded by the other. They are complementary
...our working is grounded in God's working. Our
working receives its urge, strength, incentive, and
cause from God working in us.
- good question to ask from this point - To what degree am I
actively involved in the change process?
C. The Holy Spirit works through His word
- we've been saying strongly that the process of
change is spiritual business.
- lasting change and growth in the Christian life
cannot take place apart from the Holy Spirit of God.
- no believer would disagree with that
- the disagreement comes in when we start talking
about how the Holy Spirit works
- the Scripture makes it clear that the Spirit works
through His Word
- now we need to say this - the Holy Spirit can work
any way He wants to work - but we ought to expect
Him to work the way He said He would - and thats
through His Word.
- let's talk about how the Spirit uses His Word - II
Tim. 3:16 - read
1. how?
- this passage tells us that the Word can do
four things for us
a. doctrine - teaching
- most of us have grown up in a age when there's been a de-
emphasis on reason, thinking
- our society has been overtaken by existentialism, Freudian
irresponsibility, drugs, love of violence, overthrowing
of sexual restraints, eastern religions
- we are in great need of teaching - the Word of God provides
that for us
- I'm sure it's not any surprise to you that we put a
heavy emphasis on that around here
- heavy emphasis on discipling (teaching...to observe)
- heavy emphasis on equipping - (Eph. 4:11-17)
- here's some of the things we need to be taught:
1) God's standards
- one of the problems we have today is that standards keep
changing
- homosexuals pressured the American Psychiatric Society - so
they declared that homosexuality is perfectly normal
- the Pope declares that now its OK to eat meet on Fridays
- the Mormons (who for years considered blacks to be a cursed
race - changed and admitted them to office)
- problem in each of those illustrations is - no set standard
for what is right and wrong
- the Word of God gives us those standards
- now, its wrong to come up with your own standards and
hold them up with the same authority of the Scripture
- but its also wrong not to study the Scripture to learn
God's standards
- cf. Wed. night - No divorce (hit faithfulness)
2) God's principles
- knowing how to handle life in a way that pleases God is not
part of our "standard equipment"
- therefore, we all need principles from God's Word on how to
please Him
- INPUT - in what areas do we all especially need principles
that can only come from the study of God's Word?
- so to summarize this point - the Bible tells us
WHAT'S RIGHT
- one question we need to ask this morning is:
- how much emphasis have you placed in your life on
receiving the teaching of God's Word?
(MEN OF FAITH)
(transition) - while what we've been talking about is very
important - we need to say that teaching alone is not
enough
- part of our society believes that education is the
answer to everything
- get people thinking correctly and then they'll
change
- (Tom Summers) - Magic Johnson - education is the
key
- education (teaching)is important - but it's not
the whole package
- all of us know more than we do
- that’s why Pail said "knowledge alone puffs up"
- so while the Word of God provides teaching, it also
can/must do other things for us
b. conviction
- we use the word conviction in at least three ways in our
language
1) I have a "conviction" about something. (a strong,
assured personal belief)
2) He was "under conviction" (uncomfortable sense of guilt
before God and others"
3) He was convicted of a crime. (objective, legal force)
- usually when we talk about conviction in a Christian
setting, which are we referring to (#2)
- I want to present to you that what Paul has in mind here is
more in line with the 3rd definition.
- the third leads to the 2nd - but in II Tim. 3:16 Paul is
talking about the Scriptures ability to identify how
we're wrong - to convict us
- cf. Rev. 3:14-19 - church at Laodicea
- thought they had it all (v. 17)
- makes the Lord sick (v. 16)
- look at what the Lord does in verse 19 - as many as I love,
I reprove (same word) and discipline
- full definition of conviction - "The Holy Spirit's ministry
of lovingly proving us guilty through His Word"
- I hope everyone here would say - "I need that" - our hearts
are deceitful and desperately wicked
- in addition to that - our tendency is to pull people around
us who like us and affirm us
- cf. "Harry"
- we need the convicting work of the Spirit's sword
- cf. Heb. 4:12
- so the Word of God tells us what's right, and what's wrong
c. correction
- word means "standing something up - making something stand
up straight
- one of the words for sin - "bent" - cf key
- the word of God helps "straighten us out" and return us to
a position where we're useful to God
- Bible's not just concerned with exposing wrongs - but with
"righting" them
- the 4 general steps in the correcting process
are:
1) confession of sin to God and others
2) seeking forgiveness
3) forsaking the sinful way
4) beginning an alternative way of life
- may include "radical amputation"
- cf. Prov. 28:13 (emphasize second half)
- INPUT - what should our response be to this aspect of the
Holy Spirit's work through His word? (great thanksgiving)
d. disciplined training in righteousness
- goes along with I Tim. 4:7 - exercise thyself...
- we're talking about refusing to give up
- we're talking about being committed to change for the long
haul
- we're talking about being serious about the goal of
righteousness
- fits right in with the Christmas message - cf. Luke 1:74-75
- so, the Word tells us: what's right, what's wrong, how to
get right, and how to stay right
- hit the importance of the sufficiency of the Word of God
- some of are not changing at the rate God desires because
we are not hungering and thirsting after righteousness
- not giving the Word of God its rightful place
- (recommend MacArthur's book on sufficiency)
2. what about "leading"
- Rom. 8:14
- unfortunately, some would throw out everything we've
said this morning because of some false, mystical
spirituality that claims they grow by God:
- speaking to them
- giving them divine promptings, urges
- making them feel a certain way
- they wouldn't necessarily disagree with what we've
said, they'd just minimize it because they're so
sensuous and feeling oriented
- bottom line - God didn't spend 1500 years and use some
39-40 authors so we could turn around and life by
whims, feelings, and warm winds on the backs of our
necks
- remember what we said earlier - Holy Spirit can do
whatever He wants to do - but we ought to expect...
- Rom. 8:14 - context is growth,
cf. vs. 13 YOU, through the Spirit
- it’s wrong to add or subtract from the Word - God has
reserved great punishment for those who do that - Rev.
22:18-19
3. implications to decision making
