(9) DISCIPLE: RISING ABOVE!

Kyle Idleman states in his book, "Not a Fan" that God does not call His disciples to be perfect, just authentic." But we need to go a little further….to say, "God does not call His disciples to be perfect, but He does call them to GROW towards perfection" Ephesians 4:12-16; 2 Thess 1:3; 1 Peter 2:2; 5:10; 2 Peter 3:18 Hebrews 6:1; 2 Cor 7:1; 13:9


Growth is a dominating issue with those who are alive in Christ.

Titus 3:5-7, tells us that there are two CONTINUOUS processes that God uses to save His Disciples.

5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through (1) the washing of rebirth and (2) renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

What Scripture would you use to identify what the Washing of Rebirth was referring to?

Look at Hebrews 10:22-23, Ephesians 5:26, John 3:5-7


The washing of regeneration puts us into Christ through faith in the working of God (Colossians 2:12). A continual washing takes place if we continue to walk in the Light as He is in the Light (1 John 1:7).

Renewing by the Holy Spirit is also a continual process of growing in the Lord. The Renewing of our Minds requires meditation and enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. Two processes are necessary for Disciples to be saved: (1) a Scriptural Baptism which leads to a rebirth in Christ and, (2) a Continuous Walk in the Spirit: being renewed in our minds affording us a sensitive and responsive heart to the will of God.

This hyper-sensitiveness to the will of God is essential for the Disciple. That is why David & Paul warn us to “guard our hearts and minds”.

---Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

---Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding (epignosis), will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

SUBMITTING to the SPIRIT’s CALL

Growth in Christ is accomplished by the Holy Spirit as we submit to His leading (2 Corinthians 3:18). This growth process is a life-long process known as Sanctification. A very simple definition of sanctification is "the perfecting of the saints.” It is our growth in spiritual wisdom and power with respect to righteousness (1 Peter 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and Hebrews 12:14). The sanctification process in the O.T. took 7 days to cleanse the temple and its instruments. Our sanctification process takes our entire lives.

---1 Thessalonians 4:4, "that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,"

---1 Thessalonians 4:7, "For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification."


---2 Thessalonians 2:13, "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

---Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord."

To study more about Sanctification See:
http://joyofbiblelearning.blogspot.com/2011/01/sanctification-spirits-helium.html  AND


http://joyofbiblelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/sanctification-lesson-2.html  and

http://joyofbiblelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/definition-of-sanctification.html


Reflect on:

Process: Renewing of the Mind - building a personal relationship with our Lord by relying on the Power of God (John 1:12) to fill us (Romans 15:13) , mold us, & refine us for His glory (1 Peter 1:7).

--Romans 6:19, "SLAVES to righteousness, resulting in Sanctification"

--Romans 6:22: "by now having been freed from sin and ENSLAVED to God, you derive your benefit resulting in Sanctification and the OUTCOME, Eternal Life"

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The Christian life is a life TRANSFERRED (from darkness to light), TRANSFORMED (metamorphosis into the image of the Son), and TRANSCENDS (Raises Above fleshly desires and cares) through the Spirit of God.

This process of being transformed is done entirely by the power (dunamis**) of God through the Spirit. We cannot make ourselves "Good" or "Righteous". Acting “good” is not the same as being “righteous” before God. We must rely on God completely for His salvation. This process of being transformed requires focused attention (Phil 3:12) to reach this goal.

But it is God who works in us for His glory (Hebrews 13:21) to change us from one level of understanding to the next level. How sad if we never leave the immature level of “rule making” and move forward to become a “Seeker” or “the Seer”.

**Dunamis = inherent Devine power, power for performing miracles

a. It is this miraculous power that sustains the Universe and God’s Kingdom (Heb 1:3)

b. It is this miraculous power that Christ and the apostles used to bear witness (Heb 2:4)

c. It is this miraculous power that saves us through the Gospel (Romans 1:16; 1 Th 1:5)
d. It is the miraculous power that sustains us (1 Peter 1:5)


e. It is this miraculous power that transforms us by the Spirit (Eph 1:19; 3:16, 20)

Discussion: How do we allow God to work in us? To fill us with His Spirit? To transform us into His Son's Image?

Contemplate: 2 Corinthians 3

2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, [cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

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We are transformed through the faith in the working of God's power (dunamis) in our lives and through submission to the Spirit of Christ. Transformation includes Circumcision of the Heart, a painful process of stripping away "fleshly" desires of this world and leaving the heart hyper- sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit.

Having the spirit is more than mere excitement...it is enthusiasm, a passion for God. Without enthusiasm, we are dead...not even lukewarm.

The difference between excitement and enthusiasm:

Excitement is emotional and impulsive, enthusiasm is driven by conviction. Excitement is merely the glow, enthusiasm is the fire! Edwin White wrote a book "A sense of Presence" in which he demonstrates how modern Christians have lost their fire for Christ.

Discussion:

(1) What is life's purpose?



(2) If God is always with us why does He seem distant and unreal? How can we become more aware of God?



(3) If God is to become real to us, we must take refuge from our worldly burdens and distractions and take time to commune with the Devine. How do we do this?


@ We set ourselves up for spiritual failure by maintaining a feverish gait for meaningless pursuits and then try to tack on a spiritual event at the end of our week. Practicing Presence must become as natural to us as taking in each breath..never leaving us..otherwise our Christianity becomes superficial checklists, an inherited faith, a whitewashed tomb, or a peer-based faith. It will never support a Seeking faith or a Seer faith. A Seer sees God in all things and acts accordingly.

The sad thing is as Pascal once said, "every heart has a God shaped vacuum" a place only God can fill...and when we do not fill it with God, the Father, we try to fill it with everything else. Like a dog chasing its tail, we consume and grave material things, entertainment, or fleshly desires.

How do we know what we have filled our heart with?

A sense of presence fills us with a realization of God's power...we respond in praise. We respond in awe. We respond in sensitivity to his will. His love gives our hearts and minds totally new perceptions and insights. Our Christian rituals become futile forms of customs and traditions if we fail to acknowledge God’s Presence, **His Shekhinah (Ex 40:35; Jere 33:16), His Glory. To be content in such futility and anemic spirituality is the eternal danger.

** Audio File: shekinah.mp3
If we miss the beam in our own eye or we miss the “monkey in the room”, we miss the reason Christ died. We miss the abundant life. Christians should not be looking merely for the great retirement plan in the sky...they should be looking for God to show His glory in their every day existence. They should be looking for intimate relationship with the Devine.

Remember: “Nobody goes to Heaven who doesn’t want to” We show our desire for Christ’s Presence on this earth, now!

Have you Missed His Glory? John 11:40 “if you believe you will see the glory of God”

To see God's glory confirms a Christian in their purpose. Every step they take, they take in the Spirit. “You can't live by the Spirit if you only acknowledge his presence one day a week.”

A disciple's purpose is to submit to our Lord and glorify him by sharing our life to make more disciples for the eternal kingdom. This type of commitment requires the disciple to completely empty self on the alter of sacrifice. As Jason said Sunday, “time is too short to play games.” My prayer for His church is that we awaken from our sleep, open our eyes to God's Presence, surrender everything so that the Spirit can do great things in this present age.

READ: Page 91f “A sense of Presence” by Edwin f. White

Homework:

Read Chapter 7. It is a very short, but powerful chapter. Pray that God will help you to see the “Monkey in the Room”. God’s word has not changed, but perhaps the way we perceive it should change.

Meditation

(1) Scriptures: Sanctification Process: Read scriptures and answer questions and label the balloons. Handouts at:
---Sanctification_Process.doc,
--- Sanctification_Passages.doc
--- Balloons.pdf

(2) Meditate on Lesson 5 & 6 handouts

Application:

(1) Design an “invitation” that would attract one of your friends to Christ.

(2) Be ready to share your story in class soon!

(3) Create a Clear Definition of Sanctification Process

Challenge: What will you do differently this week because of who and what you KNOW about Sanctification and the Power of God?