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lilengineblue
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Name: Crystal
Country: United States
State: Illinois
Birthday: 8/6/1984
Gender: Female
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Occupation: Student
Industry: Media
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/30/2003
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| LoSt AnD FoUnD
entrusted with truth, i stole
away to a garden, empty-
handed, finding not a soul
to share its mystery; it left me
for the tender care of another.
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| The following passage is taken from "The Cross-Centered Life," a book by C. J. Mahaney (senior pastor at Covenant Life Church):
The apostle Paul recognized the universal danger of forgetting what is most important. He refused to be pulled away from the gospel.
The cross was the centerpiece of Paul's theology. It wasn't merely one of Paul's messages; it was the message. He taught about other things as well, but whatever he taught was always derived from, and related to, the foundational reality that JESUS DIED SO THAT SINNERS WOULD BE RECONCILED TO GOD AND FORGIVEN BY GOD.
Sometimes the most obvious truths are the ones we need to be reminded of the most.
George Orwell once noted that "sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious." Perhaps the purpose of this book is to restate the obvious, yet oft-neglected, truth of the gospel, to bring it before you one more time.
On the other hand, maybe you're thinking, "I already know this truth- I've known it for years." That's good, but let me ask you this:
Is your life cross-centered?
The symptoms that arise from not being cross centered are easy to spot. Do any of these describe you?
- You often lack joy
- You're not consistently growing in spiritual maturity
-Your love for God lacks passion
-You're always looking for some new technique, some "new truth" or new experience that will pull all the pieces of your faith together
THE NEW, THE BETTER...OR THE BEST?
Sadly, an obsession with new and better is as common inside the church as it is outside. The list is endless and always changing. Diet and health. Healing and miracles. Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Godly marriage. Creationism. Worship music. Evangelism. Missions. The return of the Lord. A specific form of liturgy.
You can find many sincere, mature Christians who have built their lives around each of these issues. Some even switch issues every few years, when something new or (presumably!) better captures their attention.
Please don't misunderstand. There's an important place for all these concerns. They shouldn't be neglected or ignored. But neither should we let any issue, topic, or cause displace the gospel from its rightful place at the very center of our lives.
D.A. Carson's concern is well justifed when he writes, "I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry."
Three main tendencies that can draw our hearts away:
1. Legalism, which means basing our relationship with God on our own performance.
2. Condemnation, which means being more focused on our sin than on God's grace.
3. Subjectivism, which means basing our view of God on our changing feelings and emotions.
THE CROSS-CENTERED DAY
Practical ways to center every day around the Cross
Preach to yourself
Memorize the gospel
Pray the gospel
Sing the gospel
Review how the gospel has changed you
Study the gospel
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| The Work of the Spirit (courtesy of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD)
Part 3- The Gifts of the Spirit
Galatians 5: 26-26 (NIV)
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit is what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
Recognize the Spirit's work in our eyes, experience the work of the Spirit in our lives. Becoming alert of the Spirit results in a greater hunger for him.
How do we sustain a relationship with the Spirit, so the Spirit's presence is felt in all areas of our lives?
How do we "walk by the Spirit"?
Misconceptions of the Spirit's work
Misconception #1: Spiritual A-Bomb-
Experiencing the Spirit as "event" or point-in-time experience, causing us to wait for the next event or moment when one can "encounter" the Spirit. It is viewed as a dropped explosion.
Much of the charismatic Christian community views the Spirit this way. Often times, these charismatic Christians would go to a conference or a retreat where the Spirit has "dropped" an explosion and limit their experience of the Spirit in this manner. When they do not attend these things, they feel out of touch with him.
Don't mistake the sum total of the Spirit's work to "moments". When we overlook and neglect the Spirit's work in other ways, we rob God of His glory.
Misconception #2 The Spirit as "Voices"- essentially commands in one's head telling one moment-by-moment what to do. People are in bondage to that voice. It is like a pinball, knocks you around.
But the Spirit does not want to reduce you to a robot.
This is a common view of the Spirit because it sounds "spiritual." But it can go against and negate other Biblical categories, such as wisdom.
Ex: One lady told the pastor that she was going to completely give herself over to the calling of the Spirit. She was going to wait for the Spirit to tell her what to do at every moment. If the Spirit didn't tell her to clean the house, she wouldn't do it. So she was just going to sit there until the Spirit told her to clean the house.
The danger is that often times, it is difficult to distinguish, such as the scenario, above whether or not it is really just us or the Spirit or something else.
This misconception discards and omits Biblical categories/imperatives such as wisdom, fulfilling Biblical responsibilities, seeking counsel, proving the will of God, testing the will of God, and forming correct and ethical judgment.
Discernible information about decisions will have legitimate IMPRESSIONS, but it is not the normal way to be led by the Spirit.
One watches the will of the Spirit by walking by him. One can have impressions, but it is not the norm, and one ought not to invest them with authority.
Authority is to be invested in the Scriptures. The Scriptures only bind our consciousness.
Realize your impressions can be mixed with your sinful desires.
This leads us to the question- how are we to view the work of the Spirit?
- Justification by faith. If Christians are not under law, how should Christians live?
Paul's basic ethical imperative, basic injunction of the Christian life- walking, keeping in step with the Spirit, conformed to the spirit.
Def: To "walk by the Spirit" means to let your life be controlled by the Spirit, His values, HIs impulses, HIs inclinations, His dictates, His perspective, etc.
It is not a "mystical, mysterious" thing.
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for the spirit of God is in you."
Whenever you do something that God commands in the Word that He promises to bless, you are walking by the Spirit.
Trust God, by faith, eagerly wait.
Spirit creates faith.
When you have desire to serve others, subordinate yourself-it is the power of God working in you. When you deny sinful impulses, do something to cultivate righteousness, it is God working.
The fruit of the Spirit describes the character of Christ.
When you help others battle sin, and help restore others, you are walking by the Spirit.
When you persevere in righteousness, and not grow weary of doing good, you are walking by the Spirit.
When you confess sin to other believers, you are walking by the Spirit.
When you persevere in suffering, you are walking by the Spirit.
When you feel gratefulness, joy, and patience in the midst of suffering, and there's seemingly no relief in sight, you are walking by the Spirit.
Our responsibility is to draw other people's attention to how we see God's work in life.
Power from God's not just in healing, also expressed in perception.
How do we let the Spirit work in our lives?
-not a passive thing
- actively let ourselves be controlled
1. Begin the day by consciously and intentionally submitting yourself to God. "Bringing yourself under His sway" (Jas 4: 8, Rom 6:13)
"I die to myself, I avail myself to you. Your claim on my life is primary, to my energy, checkbook, etc." Pray specific prayer.
2. Humble yourself by acknowledging your dependence upon God and asking Him for His grace and strength for this day (1 Pet 5: 6-7; Heb 4: 16) Ask Him before you do things such as discipline your child, etc, before every activity. Often times, as we go through the day, we live our lives and engage in our activities with thoughtlessness. It's like "mummy time", unthinking..
3. Align your thinking through adopting the Spirit's perspective on God, yourself, and the world around you- by reading and meditating upon the Scriptures. (Rom 12: 1-2; Col 3: 1-2). Spirit and Word come together.
4. Devote yourself to seeking the glory of God and the good of others, rather than advancing your own agenda. (1 Cor 10: 31; Gal 5: 13-14, Phil 2: 3-4)
5. Identify, confess, and put to death any sin that comes to your attention during the day (Jas 5: 16; Col 3:5-10; Rom 5: 12-13)
Devote resources to your glory in God.
6. Consistently express gratitude/gratefulness throughout the day for God's saving, sanctifying, and sustaining grace (Eph 4:18-20)
7. Be alert to and listen for the Spirit's direction throughout the day (see, e.g. Acts 8: 27-35; 1 Cor 14: 24-25)
You are not Moses or the Apostle Paul. Do not assume you're God's prophet.
Let us not be blinded by misperceptions, so the Spirit's work is not vague. See the Spirit's work with clarity.
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| Sermon Notes
Building a Christian Conscience- R.C. Sproul: The Distortion of Lawlessness (Courtesy of Andy Yu's notes, ECC 3.23.03)
1. (Review) In the last lesson, we learned the five ways that legalism may lead us astray from the pursuit of godliness. These are:
a.) The abstraction of the law of God from its original context. b.) The separation of the letter of the law from the spirit of the law. c.) Adding legislations to God's laws and treated as if these legislations came from God himself. d.) "Majoring in minors" when we obey in the minor matters but not in the major matters of God's laws. e.) "Loophole-ism"
2. Opposite from legalism is the problem of antinomianism ("anti-law") or lawlessness. These can also prevent us from godliness.
3. The first type of antinomianism is "libertinism". A libertarian argues that our redemption and justification are by grace through the blood of Christ. God's grace frees us from all bondage. Libertinism relies on grace of God alone and gives license for Christians to sin freely.
4. A second type of antinomianism is "Gnostic Spiritualism". Gnostics believe that they have special knowledge of God's will and therefore propose interpretation of Scripture or new teachings in contradiction to explicit Biblical teachings. We have to be careful about cloaking Christian ethical decisions with a coat of spirituality in order to justify a decision.
5. The third type of antinomianism: "Situation ethics" is to adjust (and even discard) God's laws to fit the situation in order to justify a liberty.
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| I was going through my papers, and I found several scattered copies of sermon notes. I was thinking of typing them out and saving them on a Word doc, but then I realized that I might as well just put them on line and share them with other people.
SIN AND THE SINFUL NATURE (Courtesy of CCUC College Group)
APRIL 13, 2003
1. Introduction: A.) Definition of Sin : Any failure to conform to moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature B.) Comprehensive - It covers all that we do, say or act. Nothing in our lives escapes sin whether good or bad. References: Gal 5: 18-21
2. What are the origins of sin? A.) It is not God's fault. B.) Inherited Guilt: We are counted guilty and sinful because of Adam's sin. Ref: James 1:13 Rom 5: 18-19 C.) Inherited Corruption: We have sinful nature because of Adam's sin. Ref: Eph 2: 3 D.) God's response to sin is wrath.
3. What's the nature of our sin? A.) Sin is pleasurable. Heb 11:24-26. B.) The sinful nature lives in us like a law. It is a negative imposition/structure. Ref: Rom 7:21 C.) It's a heart thing, deeper than outward expression. Quote from John Calvin: "The problem is not that we love something, but that we love something too much."
4. How does sin work? A.) Sin is deceptive. "Remember that the mind is the watchman of the soul, commanded to judge and determine whether something is good and pleasing to God, so the affections can long for it and the will can choose it."
FOUR CLAWS OF THE SINFUL NATURE:
- Claw #1- Aims at your weaknesses Mat 26: 41
- Claw #2- Tyranny of the urgent
- Claw #3- The duties swap
- Claw #4- The big promise
B.) The sinful nature knows how to eat an elephant.
C.) The sinful nature gets us to do our own thing.
D.) THe sinful nature sends us down rabbit trails.
E.) The sinful nature turns sin into a cuddly pet- causes one to get bogged down with the trivial, stupid stuff like arguing over the arrangement of chairs at a church meeting.
5. What can be done?
A.) God's gracious gift of Jesus. Rom 8: 13, Rom 12:1
Three truths never to let go:
-God provides us his spirit to overcome!
- God provides us his words to renew our minds!
-God provides us assured victory in Jesus Christ!
B.) NO SURRENDER (to sin)
Ref: Psalm 32: 3-5; Heb 12:4
Helpful Reference: Kris Lungaard, The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin, P& R Publishing: Phillipsburg, NJ 1998.
Sidenote: The more you discover the power of indwelling sin, the less you will suffer the effects.
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