What Are We Doing At Abundant Life? Grow Part 2

Ephesians 4:8-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 17, 2020.

There is a lot of water under the bridge when it comes to churches.  Many wonderful things have happened through them, but so have many bad things that were not of Christ.  Christian leaders and individual Christians both need to recognize and appreciate the difficulty that we have today.  It is easy to allow the obvious failures of others to blind us to our own failures.   As we talk about this purpose of spiritual growth, it is clear that Christ intends for each of us to grow individually, but not to grow alone.  He intends for us to be within a community, that is, even more a family.  Thus, leaders who are convinced on this point must be sensitive to the prior point that many people are “shell-shocked” on this issue.  A church does not belong to its leaders, and the role of leaders is not for their own benefit either.  Leaders have to learn to navigate the tension of the importance of a growing connection to Christ and his Church, and the fear people have in being a part of “institutionalized religion.”

On the flip side, if you are one of those shell-shocked people who are afraid of institutionalized religion then please recognize that being a leader is not easy either.  None of us are perfect and we do not lead perfect people.  Church is messy because people are messy, but families stick together.  In a culture that has embraced no-fault divorce and holds marriage in no high regard, it is easy to see how people are afraid to join another family.  Christ is asking you to trust his way.  Find a group of Christians who are serious about following and becoming like Jesus.  It won’t be easy, and it will require repentance, forgiveness, and courage on your part, but God will use it to cause you to grow spiritually.  Don’t settle for anything less because it is what God is going to use to make you, and the local church you attend, to become more like Him.  You won’t grow up to be like the Father if you don’t spend time as a part of His family.

Jesus provides for our spiritual growth

In this passage, the Apostle Paul has described the death and resurrection of Jesus.  In verse 8, he says that, when Christ ascended on high (that is, into heaven), he gave gifts to men.  This sets up a whole teaching on why we have leaders and the purpose that Jesus has in giving leaders to his Church.

Yet, we must not read this passage and only focus on what the gifts are.  We must also emphasize the purpose for these gifts, and that purpose is the spiritual growth of all who believe in Jesus.  Jesus has made provision and is still making provision today for our spiritual growth.

There are many things that we can say Jesus has given to the Church, but here Paul is emphasizing different leadership roles in the early Church.  It is interesting that he does not mention Bishops and Elders here.  I don’t think that we should read too much into that because elsewhere Paul makes it clear that they are valid and helpful leadership roles.  Perhaps, he sees them as redundant in regards to the ones listed here in Ephesians 4.

We are told that Jesus gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers to the fledgling Church he had begun.  These roles should not be separated from the individuals who perform them.  If a person who has not been sent by Christ is given one of these roles then it can be damaging to the Church.  Also, a person who Jesus does call to fill one of these roles must continually remind themselves of the purpose that he intends them to fulfill.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these leadership roles and how they benefit believers.

An apostle is a reference to those first century individuals who witnessed the ministry of Jesus and his resurrection.  They were to be the foundational witnesses of what he did and taught to the world.  They often functioned in every level of leadership since they took the Gospel into new areas, preached to the lost, raised up churches from those saved, and nurtured them through teaching and oversight.  They are also described as prophets of God.  They laid down the faith that believers are called to believe and live out.  The New Testament is the record of what they taught.  In this sense, we don’t have apostles like this today, though we may recognize that some today have an apostolic-like ministry because they have influence and authority over multiple groups of believers, and are used of God to take the Gospel into new areas.  Yet, they are not authorized to establish new doctrine that the church is to believe and follow.  This was laid down once and for all by the apostles of Christ (Jude 1:3).

So, how were the apostles a gift to the Church?  They gave a sure and proven foundation of the content of our faith and the purpose of God in Christ.  The fact that this was written down was most often due to people who had different ideas.  Anyone, who has gone online to search for the “truth” on a biblical concept, knows how hard it can be to know who to trust, not to mention that there are umpteen million ideas.  Who can we trust?  Jesus took care of that concern right off the bat by spending 3 years of his life with the original apostles.  Even Paul recognized that he was an oddity as an apostle.  Yet, his writings and ministry were approved by the original apostles, excluding Judas.  We have something solid that we can use through the centuries to measure what all leaders teach and do.  No leader in God’s Church is ever intended to be outside of this.  Even if you are in a group that has let leaders add doctrine to the original, you have the ability to compare what they teach to the Scriptures themselves.  Thus, the written record of the apostles serves as a corrective device for those who seek God.  In fact, Paul stated in Galatians 1:8, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”  In an age of confusion and spiritual pretenders, it is refreshing to know that a new believer can pick up a Bible and be in direct contact with the pure teaching of the apostles of Jesus.

Let’s move to prophets.  Prophets are those who God uses to speak to the Church regarding specific issues.  They can be past, present, or future things, and their prophecies must always be judged by the leaders and elders of the assembly through a prayerful comparison to God’s Word.  This gifting of some to hear from the Lord is a help to the group as a whole, even though it can be abused by individuals who are not sent by God.  The answer here should not be of fear, but mature respect for the gifts of Christ.

Evangelists are those who were not apostles, and yet had a calling to spread the Good News of Jesus.  They would travel from city to city, encouraging the believers, and calling the lost to salvation.  This is a benefit to believers because even leaders can have tunnel vision.  From time to time, God will send a person from outside the local church to speak a word that shakes us out of lethargy and complacency.

Lastly, pastors and teachers are actually two sides of the same coin.  The language in the Greek gives good reason to think that Paul is presenting these as speaking about one position.  They are the hands-on leadership within every local assembly, watching over the souls of each member and exhorting believers to follow Christ.  As long as pastors remember that they too are sheep who belong to Jesus, they can be a great benefit to those who are helped by their instructions and prayers.

In verse 12, Paul moves from the gift itself to the purpose for the gift.  Leaders must never forget what their job is.  The Church does not belong to them, but to Jesus.  All leadership is supposed to be equipping the Church for the work of ministry, or service.  Part of my growth is to rightly listen to leaders and to learn from them so that I can better serve Christ.  Yet, I must be equipped to serve.  We are equipped with the truth of the Word of God because it helps us to know what serving God looks like.  We are equipped with a presentation of the wisdom and help of the Holy Spirit, which teaches us how to rely upon that same Holy Spirit.  We are given guidance and corrections in love.  Thus, in Christ, we have everything we need to serve him today, and yet we all need to grow in faith and skill so that we can serve him better.  A prayer we should always be praying is this.  Lord, help me to know what ways you want me to serve your purposes.

Leaders should also equip believers so that they can build up the body of Christ.  The body of Christ is an image that sees believers as an extension of Jesus.  He is the head who resides in heaven.  All instructions and directions are ultimately from him.  However, each individual cell is connected to the life of the body so that we can work together for the functions that Christ wants.  The body of Christ can be anemic, diseased, and even dead, if we are not careful in these areas.  Leaders who have lost their way can be detrimental to a particular body of believers.  The key is to recognize that Jesus intends for you to grow in relation to other believers so that his body may be strengthened in order to do his purposes.  You need other believers, companions, brothers and sisters, who are also trusting Jesus, and they need you.  This is a strength that both keeps us going, and makes our work more effective.

The goal of all of this equipping is a unity of the faith, and a unity of the knowledge of Jesus.  Goal may not be the proper word.  However, we must recognize that even the things we do for Jesus are not the end goal in and of themselves.  When we are equipped for serving Christ and strengthening the body of believers, then we can achieve a unity of the faith, which refers to the things that we believe and trust about God.  The Church is not intended to be divided on the foundational teachings of the apostles.  However, through the years, individuals who were proud and full of themselves have pressed their views to the point of fracturing the Church.  The point is not that we all should believe all the same things, but that we all hold to the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.  It is no difficult thing to determine what the apostles of Christ taught.  It is this we are to unify around, not the additions of others who came later.  Large parts of the Church have cast off the restraints (or better, the protection) of Scripture and have co-opted the Church for the purposes that are not of Christ.  We can never be unified with that, but within our group, we can work for a unity of the essentials of the Gospel.

The unity of the knowledge of Jesus is just as important.  Most cults that have come into existence have done so because they refused to accept the revelation of Scripture regarding just who Jesus was.  Some make him out to be an angel, or a created being.  Others make him out to be a spiritual master who is just one among many.  In 2 Corinthians 11:4, Paul called this “another Jesus.”

“For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (NKJV)

We are jumping in mid-stream, but Paul is concerned that the Corinthians might listen to ideas about Jesus that are not what they were taught by the apostles who were confirmed by Jesus.  False apostles promote false ideas about Jesus and lead many astray from the true Gospel.

Another way of talking about unity is spiritual maturity.  Verses 14 to 16 bring Paul’s point home.  The whole goal of these gifts is the spiritual maturity of God’s children.  He is bringing us as spiritual infants into His family and then helping us to grow until we become adult Sons of God who can step into the New Heavens and the New Earth by His side.

A person who is spiritually mature is not easily moved by every doctrine that comes along (vs. 14).  Little kids are easily deceived and manipulated.  Imagine a person who comes to faith in Jesus, but never connects to a good group of believers.  They might use the internet to search for the answers to every question that they have.  What will they find?  They will find a sea of confusion blown about by every idea and teaching under the sun.  As much as we may want to believe that God’s Spirit can help us to navigate these waters on our own, that is precisely the point that I am making.  The Spirit is the One who has made it clear to us that our safety partly comes from being in a good, Bible-teaching group.  We cannot ignore that and remain safe by some mystical connection to the Spirit of God.  At that point, we are fooling ourselves. 

Just as God uses individuals to help you embrace the Word of God, so the devil uses individuals to try and separate you from the healthy truth.  There are many who have a flicker of spiritual life.  They want to follow Christ, but are not sure how to proceed.  They exist like a homeless child living outside and exposed to the elements.  Christ desires something much better for you, a spiritual home where you can be cared for, encouraged, and where you can spiritually thrive.

Verse 15 mentions growing up into Christ, which is a great analogy.  Don’t get stuck on how far short of being like Jesus you are.  The real point is this.  Am I growing to look more like him each day?  That might be hard to analyze on a daily basis, but it must be our continual prayer.  Growth is not separate from connection to Christ, but rather an extension of it.  True connection to Jesus allows living truth to flow into my life, and that growth makes me more like Jesus.  It also strengthens my connection to Christ.  May our connection to Christ ever grow stronger.

Jesus is working through all people in his Church to build it up in love.  Verse 16 ends with the analogy of the body of Christ.  Paul sees each part “joined and knit together,” like a family.  We are joined and knit together when we respond to the Spirit of God and learn to love and forgive one another.  We are joined and knit together as we do life together.  Covid-19 is just one example of the kind of things that crop up in the life of a church and require us to grow and bond with one another.  Bonding comes from shared crises and learning to work through them together (not perfection). 

Paul also sees each part “doing its share.”  That share involves spiritual things, but also very practical things.  Instead of seeking for the applause of one another and getting to be something big, we simply need to let Jesus teach us how to do our part.  Lord, help me to do my part in your Church today, so that it may be built up in your love and strengthened for the days that we live in.  In short, help us to grow to be like you!

Grow part 2 audio

What Are We Doing at Abundant Life? Grow Part 1

1 Peter 2:1-3; Psalm 1.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 10, 2020, Mother’s Day.

Today is Mother’s Day and we pray that all you moms are encouraged today.  We use the word “mom,” or “mother,” to refer to that special relationship that begins when a baby is conceived.  The baby is then birthed into the world and needs a lot of help.  A mom’s job is to help that baby grow up into an adult that no longer needs her to change their diapers, feed them, do their laundry, and tell them to clean their room.  This growth is not just physical, but includes mental, emotional, relational, and especially spiritual.  A mom sure has her work cut out for her!

We are continuing on to the second purpose for believers corporately and individually.  We need to grow to be like Jesus.  Just as moms raise babies until they are ready to leave the nest, so new believers need to be helped along by other mature believers.  In short, new believers need to grow, or to mature, in their faith.  This growing is not to be measured against one another.  We all fall short.  Rather, we are measured against Jesus.  He is the full measure of what it means to be a mature Son of God, and compared to him, we will fall short until the day of our resurrection.

Now, let’s look at a couple of passages and talk about the purpose of Growing.

We need to grow up spiritually

To connect to Christ and his followers is not an end goal; it is only the beginning.  1 Peter 1 ends with the apostle reminding believers that they have been born again, or spiritually born from above by the incorruptible seed of God, which is ultimately God Himself, but also involves His Word to us.  In chapter 2, he commands them to desire the “milk of the word,” but he qualifies this desiring with the added description of “laying aside” a number of bad things in our lives:  malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking (aka slanderous and defamatory speech).  Not everyone that he is writing to is a new Christian, but Peter is concerned that they understand what should properly occur.  Newborn babes in Christ need to take in God’s Word and thereby grow spiritually.

Peter only uses the metaphor of milk because that is the only thing that newborns can handle.  However, the apostle Paul adds the concept of solid food to this metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3:12-2.  Thus, God’s Word is compared to food that has some parts that are easily digested by spiritual infants, and other parts that require some spiritual maturity in order to digest.

The digestive process in regard to infants and maturity is an amazing thing.  Milk is a simple food that their body is able to break down for energy.  In fact, you could say that this whole area of salvation and God’s purpose for believers is the milk of the Word.  These are the simple concepts that speak to us of our sinful condition, and yet God’s loving mercy towards us.  The concepts of salvation are the simple things.  Yet, any child who properly takes in the milk they need will also grow and develop the ability to eat more complex meals.

This whole process of maturity brings the infant to the place where they are fully developed and able to digest solid food.  This will enable them to do far more work then when they only drank milk.  Of course, this is a metaphor regarding our spiritual life.  Mature believers should be careful not to push new believers too quickly.  Allow for natural development and absorption of the simple truths of God’s Word into their life.  However, they do need to be challenged to choose to grow, as Peter is doing.  Peter connects spiritual growth to two things.  First, putting off the negative things that would stunt spiritual growth, and going after the thing that will positively cause you to grow, God’s Word.

Now, let’s go to Psalm 1 in order to see another analogy that Scripture uses for spiritual growth.

The analogy from the plant world: a fruit tree

There is a powerful contrast in this psalm between the righteous and the wicked, those who are spiritually alive and those who are not.  However, we will only focus on the development of the person who is spiritually alive.  Here the analogy is not of a child, but of a fruit tree.

Before the psalmist describes the fruiting tree, he describes what it means to be a righteous person who is spiritually alive and blessed by God.  They avoid following those who are not spiritually alive, those who follow the desires of their flesh and their natural mind rather than God.  This is described in three ways.

The counsel of those who are not following God is to be avoided.  You can’t grow spiritually if you are listening to people who are living for their flesh.  Like Adam and Eve with the serpent in the Garden, we can be led astray from the blessing that God has for us.

The path of sinners is a reference to their way of life, the direction in which they are headed.  I’ll give you a hint; it is away from God.   Believers should give themselves to the purposes of God and leave the purposes of this world and their own flesh behind. 

Lastly, the seat of the mockers is a powerful image of those who observe the life of the righteous, ridicule them, and laugh them to scorn.  Like the stubborn thief on the cross, they would rather ridicule the righteous than learn anything from them.

We should also notice that this is the same pattern that Peter used.  Believers are to leave these bad things behind and press into that which will make you spiritually grow.

Verse 2 of Psalm 1 shows us the thing that the righteous go after.  It says that they delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night.  Both are important and are reciprocal.  You won’t meditate on God’s Word unless you are delighting in it, and you won’t delight in God’s Word unless you are meditating on it.  No one is saved in a vacuum.  Someone delivered the Word of God to them that sparked faith in Jesus and a delight in this knowledge about salvation.  That initial new birth is the response to believing God’s Word, and delighting in what it tells us.  Mature believers are to help new believers get into the Word of God and learn to incorporate it into their daily life.

Verse 3 then gives the powerful spiritual image that God intends for us to experience.  We become like a fruit tree that is well-situated next to an abundant water source, which is the Word of God.  Because it is daily drawing nutrients into itself through the aid of the water, it is able to fruit in the proper seasons.  Being a child of God is not just about my character and activity.  It also involves having something in our life that can give life to others.  This is not innate to ourselves, but is the result of a life lived upon the Word of God, and listening to the Holy Spirit.  As we talked last week, being in the Word of God, prayerfully meditating upon it, hearing the Holy Spirit, and then acting in faith is the process that God uses to help us maintain our connection to Jesus and grow into a fruitful tree that blesses others.

This underlines an important principle.  Those who are blessed by God become a blessing to others.  God’s blessing is not about hoarding and taking care of ourselves.  It is an abundant life that blesses all who come into contact with it. 

There are many seekers out there who spiritually do not know their right hand from their left.  They are lost.  Are there any believers in the Church of God who are mature enough and blessed enough to become mothers in the house of God?  Are there any who can birth new believers into the Kingdom and then help them to feed upon the milk of the Word?  Are there any who can do this until they are mature enough to walk on their own?  May God help us not to become stagnant, nor to feed upon stagnant waters, but instead, to be a tree of life that does not wither, and brings forth fruit in the proper season!

Grow I audio

What Are We Doing At Abundant Life? Connect Part 3

Romans 10:13-15; 1 Peter 3:12; 4:7; Romans 8:12-15; Romans 3:20-22; Jude 1:4, 20-21.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 3, 2020.

Today, we will continue in our series on the purpose of the Church and for individual believers.  Before we move to the second purpose, I want to look at four things that are not actually our purpose.  Rather, they are the things that help us to accomplish the purpose.  They are the simple actions of the life of faith in Jesus, and we do them because we believe that Jesus is the eternal Word of God, and our source of life.  Each of these things will enable us to Connect to Jesus in whole-life worship, Grow to be like Jesus, Serve Jesus, and Share Jesus with others.  If they are absent, then our ability in these areas will be impotent.

I need to hear and read the Word of God

Without God revealing Himself to us, we would be at a loss to discover His character and purpose.  The Bible is the proven Word of God and no other religious book even comes close to comparing with it.  In the Romans 10 passage, we see the importance of the Word of God.  The Apostle Paul works backwards, or reverse-engineers, from the goal of a person who has been saved by Jesus in order to highlight what is needed.  He impresses upon us the importance of hearing God’s Word for those who are unbelievers and lost.  People who don’t know God typically don’t read the Word of God for themselves.  Someone needs to bring it to them.  However, once a person hears God’s Word, it becomes the spark that enables them to believe and then call upon the name of Jesus for salvation.  Yet, our need for hearing and reading the Word of God doesn’t end once we are saved.  We can’t do what God wants us to do if we don’t become a person of The Book.

We are going to see a pattern as we go through the purposes.  The very things that help us to receive salvation also become the things that help us in our continuing discipleship.  We will talk more about discipleship in our next purpose, but we must reject the idea that I can survive spiritually without becoming a student of God’s Word.

As we take time to internalize God’s Word through prayerful study, prayerful contemplation, and talking with other believers about it, we receive the Words of Life that give light to our minds and souls.  People may ridicule the fact that it is an ancient document written by men from a strange culture.  However, the words have proven themselves to be more than just the words of men about ancient issues.  It has proven relevant in every age.  Also, some believers may never say such a thing about the Bible, but in practice, they never really read it.  It doesn’t seem practical to them.  A Bibleless Christian is an oxymoron and will hardly accomplish any of these purposes.

Jesus is the Truth and the Wisdom of God.  In an age that likes to talk about “my truth,” it is important to understand that this world is dying from a prevalence of “my truths” and a lack of real Truth.  The biblical phrase for this is, “each one doing what is right in their own eyes.”  Jesus is the blazing revelation of just who God is and what He wants from us.  Any wisdom and truth that is other than him is a pretender, and is actually an anti-truth, anti-wisdom.  Jesus is called The Word of God, so we cannot know him without actually being a student of the written Word of God, which reveals him to us.

This should not be a casual relationship.  It is our daily manna that we need to go out and pick up as the Lord provides.  I cannot lean upon yesterday’s manna, but must go after it each day.  Without it, we will die on the vine in this wilderness-world where truth and wisdom are as rare as food in the desert.

Thus, always remember that our connection to Christ and to other believers is dependent upon the vigor of our interaction with the Bible.  This needs to happen daily in private devotional times, and weekly in interaction with other believers, whether one-on-one, or in a group study.

I need to pray to God

By now, you have realized that I am not telling you anything new.  Everybody knows that Christians are supposed to read the Bible and pray.  However, prayer and reading the Bible are the kind of things that we intend to do, but never really get around to doing.  It is imperative that we stop being lax in this area.  It is not a matter of preference, but spiritual life and death.

Prayer is simple and yet can be more complex.  When churches gather and sing songs of worship to the Lord, they are giving a special kind of prayer.  We are spiritually addressing and praising our Father in heaven.  I need not be in any particular place, nor need I be alone.  The main thing is to speak to God at all times about the things that we encounter.

By the way, technically we are praying to the Father in the name of Jesus.  He is our “access pass.”  However, I don’t believe that God gets angry if we address Jesus in our prayers.  Jesus is the Son of God, and the perfect representative of the Father to mankind.  To pray to Him is to pray to the Father.

In Luke 18:1, the whole purpose of the parable that Jesus goes on to tell is to teach us that we should always pray.  The story is about the persistent widow who wants justice from her adversary.  In this, we find that even those who pray can become discouraged and give up praying like they used to do.  However, we will not receive anything from God without giving ourselves to daily prayer.  Second of all, prayer is not only about getting justice, or getting our material needs satisfied.  It is a daily conversation that we have with our Lord about the things that we are learning.  It is that wrestling of Jacob with the Angel of the Lord.  I won’t let go unless you bless me!  So, let us not kid ourselves.  We will accomplish nothing of value without taking time to talk with God about it.

1 Peter 3:12 reminds us that God is watching all the time and He is listening as well.  He is not a cosmic vending machine, but rather a personal being.  This is a relationship of those who are sentient.  Like any relationship, we can feel like He is not responding as quickly as we would like, or in the manner that we want.  Yet, prayer begins with the simple act of faith that says, “I know He hears me, and I know He loves me.”  Prayer without faith is a sad act of futility, but the prayer of faith of a righteous man is one of the most powerful things we can ever do.

In chapter 4 verse 7, Peter adds another layer to our prayers.  He says that the end of all things is at hand; therefore, we should be serious and watchful in our prayers.  In the context of Scripture, Peter means the end of all things, “as we know it,” or TEOTWAKI in the modern parlance.  This world will not always continue going as it does today.  This is definitely true in the historical arc of change, but it is also true in a greater sense.  When the flood came, it ended one world and a whole new world took its place.  The Second Coming of Jesus will be such an event.

It is easy for us to become inundated by the media and philosophies of this world.  These are dominated by the spirit of this age, which works in opposition to Jesus.  Prayer is a mental exercise, but it is far more than that.  Peter sees our soul as something that needs to be watched over, like a shepherd watching over his sheep.  It is through spiritual vigilance and conversations with the Lord that we keep our heart from growing weary of standing with him against the philosophies of this age.  If you do not pray then this world will grind any faith you have to powder.  The good news is that this world has a way of driving us to our knees.  Don’t neglect this important part of our connection to Jesus.

I need to listen to the Holy Spirit

I could have treated this as part of prayer.  Prayer is not intended to be a monologue, but a dialogue.  Yes, God is not always so talkative, and yet, we must intentionally listen and watch for His responses.

In Romans 8:12-15, we find that it was the Holy Spirit that first led us to Christ and opened our eyes to his saving grace.  It was our listening and responding in faith to the Holy Spirit that brought us through the door of salvation.  This must not stop at salvation.  We cannot pick up our cross and follow Jesus without listening to the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is not physically on this earth.  He speaks to us by His Spirit.

Now, the spirit of this world pulls us into gratifying our flesh.  For some, it is sexual immorality, and for others it is substance abuse.  Some go after spiritual experiences and spiritual power through any means necessary.  The devil cares not what direction you go, as long as it is to gratify your fleshly desires.  These always pull us away from Jesus and his purposes.  Even believers will die if they quit following the Holy Spirit of God and simply follow their own heart.

This begs the question.  To what am I listening?  This is not always so easy to discern.  Sometimes our flesh wants things that look religious and have a veneer of spirituality.  Yet, at their heart they can be only about our pride and purpose. 

Like the children of Israel in the wilderness, we have to move when the Spirit of God is moving.  When He says it is time to repent, then we need to embrace repentance and do it.  When He says it is time to help someone then we need to do it.  This is a subjective area that takes time and is a relationship that needs to grow.  So, I am not trying to strap a legalistic burden upon you, but rather to stir you up to the inheritance in front of you.

God’s Word is the guardrail to learning how to hear the Holy Spirit for ourselves.  It was produced by men who listened to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not going to contradict Himself, but my flesh will contradict itself all day long.  Having other believers around me is another guardrail that God can use to help us keep on the right path in this area.  Ultimately, we must avoid pride and arrogance in this area.

In verse 15, Paul refers to the spirit of bondage.  Our flesh always leads us into some kind of bondage.  Yes, Americans have great freedoms, but in some ways, we are more in bondage then the slaves ever were.  Learning to hear and recognize the Holy Spirit begins in reading the Words that He inspired.  It is then forged in our prayers to God over time.  Though we will never lack a need to grow in this area, steady faith will bring you to the place where you will recognize that same voice that led you to trust in Jesus in the first place.

I need to choose to live out the righteousness of Christ

It is not enough to hear the Word of God, and to hear the Holy Spirit.  We must learn to exercise our faith by doing, by the actions that He puts before us.  Do I pursue what is right in my own eyes, or do I listen to what God says is the righteous thing that I should be doing?  For the believer in Jesus, there is only one answer.  I want Jesus!

In Romans 3:20-22, Paul talks about the righteousness of Christ versus dead works.  Sometimes people are confused about the New Testament teaching on works.  Always remember that it is not works that are condemned (though sometimes it only uses that word).  The condemnation is technically upon what is called “dead works.”  Dead works are those things that my flesh does in order to achieve or earn salvation, whether from God or from this world.  They are not born out of faith in the leading of the Holy Spirit, but in faith of my flesh that I can do this!  The true believer has come to understand that none of us are able “to do it.”  We cannot be righteous enough to deserve God’s love and presence.  We are saved only by the grace of God.  Yet, we are saved in order to live out the righteousness of Christ.  Yes, it is the righteous works that He did which cover my sins.  However, he also laid down a template for our discipleship.  He has shown us how to become like the Father.  The Holy Spirit will teach us how to say no to ungodliness, and yes to the things that Jesus wants us to do (that reflect the Father’s image).  The things we do in response to the Spirit of God give life and are true righteousness.  Anything I do out of an attempt to force God to give me what I want is a dead work.  So, Christians ought not to put down seeking to live set apart for the Lord, rather than for the world.

In our last passage, Jude 1:4, 20-21, we see the apostle’s concern for how we live.  The early Church had its fair share of false teachers, false prophets, and false apostles.   They tended towards two errors.  Either they promoted legalistic approaches to God, or they promoted using the grace of God as a license for immorality.  Jude warns believers that those who do so “deny the Lord.”  If you have truly received the grace of Jesus then you won’t easily choose to sin.  My sin is what nailed Jesus to the cross.  My sin is what led to his gruesome death.  How can I continue to hold on to it?  Jesus did not go to the cross because he was pleasing his flesh, and your flesh will not lead you towards Jesus.  To embrace sin is to let go of Jesus, period.  Be quick to repent of such an attitude and ask the Lord to cleanse you from such a horrible persuasion.

We could use the word “obedience” here, but that word falls short of what God intends for us.  Little kids need to obey because they don’t understand, even can’t.  However, adults need to believe, to have faith, to agree.  My heart needs to valiantly rise up to the challenge of the Holy Spirit to march on.  Yes, Lord, I hear you.  I will follow.  It is the response of a person who has seen that they not only need Jesus, but that they also love who and what he is; and we want to be like him.

Grace is not a license for immorality; it is the gift of transformation.  God graciously puts His Spirit in your life to enable you not only to connect to Jesus, but also to have His abundant Life pouring into you and creating a life-long transformation. 

May we give ourselves to studying God’s Word, praying to God and worshipping Him, hearing the call of the Holy Spirit, and taking those bold steps of faith to follow Him.  There is no other way to life!

Connect III audio

What Are We Doing at Abundant Life? Connect Part 2

John 1:1-3, 10-13; Hebrews 10:23-25; Acts 2:40-42; Revelation 21:3-8.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, April 26, 2020. 

We are in the middle of a series on the purpose of the Church of Jesus, more specifically of our local expression of the Church.  What are we trying to accomplish here?  As we take time to delineate those purposes that we should be trying to accomplish, we must not lose sight that we are not alone.  The Lord is also working to accomplish these things through us.  It is a cooperation that happens between humans and the Spirit of God.  Thus, we should take heart even though facts on the ground may cause us to doubt.

Last week, we focused on the fact that everything begins with Jesus.  Here is the simplified model that our church uses to picture these things.  We are currently looking at the upper left purpose, which is to connect to Jesus.  When we connect to Jesus through whole-life worship, he becomes our teacher, savior, and lord. 

However, when you connect to Him, you find that that there are other disciples who have done so before you.  Jesus has a band of disciples who are already following him, and he wants you to connect to them as well.  In fact, it is interesting that the Church is called, “the body of Christ.”  We connect to Jesus spiritually through repentance, faith, prayer, worship, and obedience.  However, we connect physically to Jesus by connecting to a group of believers, a local expression of his Church.  Let’s explore this further.

You have a new family (John 1:1-3, 10-13) 

Of the four Gospels, John’s gospel uniquely focuses on the heavenly origin of Jesus as opposed to his earthly lineage.  John establishes the relationship that Jesus had with God in eternity past before anything was created.  This is not a sermon on the trinity.  So, we won’t go into detail on verses 1-3.  Suffice it to say that God clearly existed as a community within Himself before anything was created.  When we connect to Jesus, we are connecting to this one who is connected to an eternal family that God is, and that He is still creating.  This family is far more important to God than all the material world that we see around us.  We will continue into the new heavens and the new earth, whereas this creation will be melted down and flee away.

The Bible makes it clear that God has a heavenly family made up of spiritual beings, of which some are named (cherubim, seraphim, watchers, arch-angels, and angels).  Yet, God wants humans to be part of this family.  Even more amazing, He wants you to be a part of this eternal family.  This is what John is talking about in verses 10-13.  Jesus came to what should have been his earthly family, both the micro in Nazareth, and the macro in Israel.  In general, he was rejected by his own.  However, those who did receive him were enabled to become part of his heavenly family.  Thus, we are given “the right to become children of God.”  Much of this life is about preparing us to take our place some day in that eternal family, but the family begins in the here and now.

This family of people who have received Jesus is rather large throughout the world.  Yet, God has a place for you in it.  No local church actually belongs to the pastor, or the elders, or even its members.  It really belongs to Jesus.  He is the one who said, “I will build my Church.”  God wants us to find our place within a local group of believers, and he wants that group of believers to make room for us.

The use of family terms is extremely important because God is the One who spiritually births new children by bringing them to faith in Jesus.  Children don’t get to choose who is in the family.  When a newborn baby is brought home from the hospital, the kids don’t get a vote on whether or not to keep it.  There are all kinds of growing pains as that little infant, who can barely do anything, grows up and begins to find its legs and its voice. 

This becomes our identity.  Regardless of what station of life you are in, regardless of what country you are from, how smart you are or how much ability you have, you are a child in the family of God.  The world didn’t give it to you and the world can’t take it away!  Only you can affect your status by giving in to the temptation to walk away from who you really are.

We must love one another (Hebrews 10:23-25)

In his last hours with his disciples, Jesus hammered home that he wanted them to love each other in the way that he loved them.  John 15 is a masterful weaving of these concepts.  Jesus wants us to experience the same love that he and the Father enjoy together, and it starts with learning to love other children of God.  In fact, he wants it so much that he makes it a command.  This means that we cannot tell ourselves that we love Jesus and are connecting to him if we refuse to learn to love other believers.  That is the rub, and place of tension that we find ourselves.

In Hebrews 10, you can see how the writer moves from encouraging us to hold on strongly to the hope that Christ has given to us, to loving other believers.  We are to consider how to stir up love and good works among this family.  To consider is to fix our minds upon the purpose and exercise our understanding and wisdom to develop a plan.  How can I encourage my spiritual siblings in this endeavor to love?  How can we stir up each other?

There are many things going on in the world today that can get us distracted from what God wants us to do.  Many of those things stir up fear and anxiety within us.  In such a state, we are not as well focused on love and good works as we should be.  In fact, we are tempted to go the other direction out of self-preservation and hurt feelings.  Don’t let the enemy trick you out of your inheritance.  When we overcome the obstacles of loving each other and doing good works, we become more like Jesus.  May God help us to keep focused on this in these days and the days ahead.

It is interesting that even the first century had a problem with some people not being interested in connecting to a group of believers.  The writer speaks of the “manner of some” to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  Why do they and do we sometimes forsake gathering together?  Most likely there are multiple reasons.  In times of persecution, it is easy to go into self-preservation mode, every man for himself.  In times of doubt, it is easy to retreat into a shell and retract from other believers out of shame and guilt.  In times of being hurt, it is easy to harden our hearts towards each other and towards the command of Christ.

Now, I want to be careful here because I know that there have been some real injuries that have occurred in churches across this world.  However, I also know that there is just as much the tendency to be offended over things that I shouldn’t be.  Anyone who is intellectually honest with themselves will recognize that we can get off-base on either side of this debacle.  It is not right to beat people over the head, in the name of Jesus, and then tell them they are commanded by Christ to love it.  Yet, neither is it right to sit at home and point the finger at all churches saying, “They’re all hypocrites!”  Family is not easy, and few siblings would stay together if they didn’t have loving parents who taught them how to love each other.

We are told that this is going to be even more important as we see the Day [of the Lord] approaching.  The Day here is talking about the Second Coming of Jesus to judge the nations and set up His earthly kingdom.  Yes, this world is not going to continue as it does forever.  In fact, the world never stays the same.  There is a continual pressure building and working towards a modern tower of Babel.  It is building towards a modern rebellion against the Gospel of Jesus and the plan of God.  This world is not content to wait upon the Lord, but instead rushes ahead with its own purposes that will bring about destruction.

We are either going to be sucked up into this alternative family that refuses to become like God, or we are going to do the hard work of encouraging our siblings and helping them to continue.  Your flesh says that it isn’t worth it to love those people, but the Spirit of God is saying that you should dig deep and give them your all, like Jesus did.

We will have troubles with our siblings

I have briefly touched on this already, but let’s take a few moments to sink our teeth into the fact that we will have troubles with our new spiritual siblings.

The New Testament is clear that there will be false believers, teachers, prophets, and Christs.  We don’t have to try and figure out who they are through some kind of fascist or communist snitching culture.  We are simply to love one another, which takes dying to yourself and the help of the Holy Spirit.  It is hard to fake dying on a cross (I’m not talking about Hollywood).  At some point, it just gets too real and too painful.  People will either truly get saved at that point, or their flesh will cause them to bolt.

This earthly family of God is messy business.  Yet, not all problems in Church are because the other person is not really saved.  It can become a crutch, or a knee-jerk reaction, to label everyone who I don’t like, or who I don’t agree with, or who steps on my toes, as a false Christian.

Your brother isn’t always the devil.  Sometimes, he is just like you, wrestling with what it means to love others.  Take, for instance, the issue of older siblings.  Older siblings are supposed to help the younger siblings by teaching them the ropes, and watching out for them.  Sometimes, older siblings can forget that they are not the parent, and their younger siblings don’t belong to them.  They can be harsh, demeaning, and throw their weight around.  However, younger siblings can sometimes get a little too hot for their britches, and think that they can take on the world without their older siblings.  They can be annoyed with the strengths and abilities of their older siblings and act out of envy.

In all of this, God is calling us to authentic relationships with one another.  Yes, love, but not a false, superficial love that is like a photoshopped picture that has no connection to reality.  When a relationship is authentic, it is messy and filled with growing pains.  However, if we listen to the Spirit of God, it will be good. 

I was born into a Christian family and was raised in the Church.  And, yes, I have been hurt by other Christians, but I will tell you that if you keep your eyes upon Jesus then those difficulties will become the times where you grew the most in becoming like Jesus.  We need each other because we will never look like the Father without the adversity that we pose to one another, and without the Spirit-filled help that we can give to one another.

So, what does a person do when faced with all this messy business of Church, and the family of God?  Let me encourage you to keep your faith in Jesus.  I could have quit “doing church” along time ago, but I couldn’t do that without walking away from Jesus.  I guess it depends on what a person pours into the meaning of “doing church.”  My point is that this is God’s plan not mine, and He doesn’t change His plans because my feelings were hurt.  Instead, He comes alongside of me and helps me through it.

God has a purpose in believers doing life together as a family.  He will work it all to the good in the end.  We just have to trust Him.  The book of Revelation is meant to be a message of hope.  It tells us that regardless of all hell breaking out on this earth, God will finish what He has started.  It may hurt today, and it may be tough today, but there is coming a day when all the hard work will pay off.

3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  -Revelation 21:3-8 (NKJV).

My focus is really on the end of verse 7.  “I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”  Those are amazing words for you and for me.  The picture of having the tears wiped from our eyes by God himself is precious, and it is your destiny.  There will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain because the way things are now will become but a memory.  Friend, I encourage you not to lose faith in Jesus because connecting to his followers is difficult.  Instead, continue to hear Jesus calling you by his Spirit, “Pick up your cross, and follow me.”  “I know the way that is filled with an abundance of life!”

Connect II audio