REVIEW
We are trying to know
God better and to learn how to allow Him to work in us and through us. We
realize that in order to do this we must empty ourselves and be open to the
transforming power of the Spirit. This stripping away of fleshly obsessions is
called “circumcision” of the heart” and it can only be accomplished by the Holy
Spirit in a submissive heart that does not seek the praise of people, but from
God alone (Romans
2:29).
Revelation Lesson 3 (listen online) discusses the problems in the churches of Asia. These
were representative of churches that sold out to Satan, who were lukewarm or
asleep, who had forgotten their first love, and who no longer glorified Christ.
They were not on the front lines of spiritual warfare. They never left the pews
to join the battle. Francis Chan compares this situation to suiting out for
football and never running the plays. The churches had been seduced by SATAN to
“fit in” to their popular culture.
In Revelation, Christ stands at the door and knocks for the
Church to let Him back in because they have grown blind, deaf, and cold of
heart. Our lesson in Revelation speaks about trying to live in both Babylon and
in the New Jerusalem –or being sold out to “Babylruselem.” What does that term mean to you?
·
Denying the Creation
Story · Mocking the definition of Biblical Marriage
· Mocking the Power of God and the Identity of Christ (using His name in vain)
· Having ears but do not hear, asleep, and lack of passion for Christ
· Compromising how we act, look, speak, think, and dress – Mimicking popular culture instead of our Savior because our view of Christ is perverted
o Being seduced by fashion magazines to wear worldly
clothing instead of honoring Christ
o Being seduced to talk and think like the world, (i.e.
watching the latest Kardashian episode so we can stay up with the latest gossip..so
we have something (other than the Light) to speak about with our friends. Who
is pregnant? With whom? Who is dating who? Promoting the habit of gossip and
worldly thoughts. Using language that
does not glorify Christ. (i.e. OMG, “pissed off”, “fricken”)
o “Trying to get as close as you can to sin without getting
stained”
·
Ungracious,
unforgiving, unloving, impatient, shameless, lovers of self· “Instead of injecting the Light of Christ into the world we are reflecting the world”
· Indulge in all the distractions the world can throw our way so we do not take time to contemplate in silence on the Word of God.
· Pretending we don’t need to be involved with the Spirit in the sanctification “process”, but have arrived (definition of hypocrisy) because we go to church, sit in a pew, and do some “churchy” activities. “We want just enough of Jesus to keep us out of hell, but not enough to keep us out of the world” Mark 4:19
OUR CALLING:
Ephesians 5:8-15 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
· Am I a part of a church that has Christ’s vision?
·
Am I in LOVE with Jesus?
Do I choose Him over popular culture?
·
Am I willing to stand up
to Babylon?
·
Am I willing
to bear the scars of my battles with Satan on this earth so that I can gain
reward for those who have suffered with Jesus?
1 Peter 2:21 “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that
you should follow in his steps.”
Revelation 4 Lesson (listen online) : In this lesson we see the majesty of Heaven and the
Throne of God. What is the theme of this lesson? EVERYTHING is UNDER the throne
of the Almighty God. Am I living to show that I am under the throne of God? If you have any problem keeping the majesty of God, His Holiness, and the “big picture” in your mind, you will need to keep this lesson in your MP3 player (or listen online) at all times.
GIVING GOD the GLORY
in ALL Things
Jeremiah 13:16 "Give glory
to the Lord your God, Before He brings darkness And before your
feet stumble On the dusky mountains, And while you are hoping for light He
makes it into deep darkness, And turns it into gloom.
We have discussed
what a temple is and how it praises and gives glory to the one for whom it was
built. We still struggle with giving Christ the glory in all things. We are
told to "acknowledge Him in ALL our ways", but our pride and
self-importance keep us from being perfected in this.
So what's the big
deal? Do I really need to give God the glory in EVERYTHING?
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
- Philippians 2:11 "and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
- 1 Timothy 1:17 "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
- Jude 1:25 "to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."
- Revelation 1:6 "and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
- Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
BIBLICAL PREMIERE
EXAMPLES
Let's take a few
minutes to explore the nature of God. When God sets up a path for man to
follow, He is extremely serious. In fact, He uses "Premiere Examples"
in the Scriptures to teach us how serious He is.
What are some of the PREMIERE EXAMPLES that God has given us? Here are just a few:
(1) Sin of Adam & Eve - kicked out of their paradise
home. As others sin, they were not kicked out of their homes.
(2) Sin of Cain against Able - mark on the forehead, as
others killed they were not given a mark.
(3) Sin of Achan, stealing the treasure of the King, stoned (Joshua 7:25), as
others stole, all of Israel was not set against them to be stoned. In fact,
David stole a wife and God did not have him stoned.
(4) Act 5 - Ananias and
Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and were struck dead. Others who lie to the
Holy Spirit are not immediate struck dead.
These are Premiere
examples that God gives us to "get His point" across to folks are who
are hard of hearing.
“And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, ‘It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.’ And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”
Apparently Herod had
a talent of great oration - speaking in public. People admired this talent, but
"Because he gave not God the glory", he was immediately struck
dead. How serious is God about His
people acknowledging Him in all their ways?
Hebrews 13:15 - 16, 21
"confess and praise Him with our lives and lips....by doing good works and by
communicating the glory of Christ (communion= "koinonia" giving glory
to Christ).
If we boast in
anything besides the Cross of Christ, it would be in our own individual weaknesses
so that the world can see God’s glory.
I am struggling with this. I want to be Spirit-led and learn to glorify Christ and Him only…reserving the words like “Holy”, “Awesome”, “Almighty” for God and God only. If the Spirit resides in me, then even my speech will be transformed.
MAKING TRANSFORMATION
A PRIORITY
"Right Ritual DOES NOT
equal Right Relationship! Right Theology DOES NOT equal Right Relationship." (Jason Reeves) But
wrong theology gets us into even more trouble. So tonight we will be talking
about Theology 101 of the Holy Spirit (Chapter 3). We want to focus on the
issues that “shape our faith and behavior” all else are meaningless arguments (2 Timothy 2:23: "Don’t have
anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,
because you know they produce quarrels.")
CHAPTER 3 NOTES
There are three
personalities that have ALL the characteristics of Elohem. They appear in
Scripture as separate but united persons in purpose, power, and position. When
speaking of the Holy Spirit we recognize that He is a person (not an it), He is
God, He is eternal and holy, He searches our hearts, He prays for us, He can be
grieved, He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Here is how he is
manifested in our lives (Handouts: 50 Things the Spirit Does and Balloons):
·
He helps us bear
witness of Christ
·
He teaches, reminds,
and can place on our hearts the desire to do the Will of God
·
He pricks the heart –
convicts of sin
·
He empowers the
believer
·
He draws people to
the Gospel
·
He works through
“sanctification” – the perfecting of the saints (the putting off and putting
on) (2 Cor 3:18; Gal 5:22-25)
·
He creates an
intimate relationship between the Father and His children
·
He ALWAYS glorifies
Christ and allows the worshipper to present an offering of praise before the
Throne of God.
·
If we submit to His
leading He will bring the fruit of the Spirit into our lives
Hebrews 13:15 "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually
offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name."
Witnessing for Christ
should NOT come from obligation or guilt, but from the overflow of a Spirit-led
heart, from the love of Christ and His Kingdom and from the love of mankind.
From the overflow of our heart we reveal the joy of our salvation.
What can “come into
the Heart?”
- John 13:2 - the Devil
- Act 7:23 - "it came into his heart" – Moses became a leader (elder)
- Act 7:39 - "it came into their hearts to return to Eygpt" (temptation)
- 2 Cor 8:16 - "But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus"
- Gal 4:6 - "Holy Spirit comes into our hearts to cry Abba Father"
- 2 Thess 3:5 – The LORD DIRECTS the heart
- Hebrews 8:10; 10:16 - God's law put it in our minds and He WRITES it on our hearts – writing is a process! This is the process of sanctification – continually interpreting the Word for our individual lives and placing it on our hearts.
TATTOOED by HOLY SPIRIT
2 Corinthians 3:3 "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Bubble
Gum Fake Tattoos –
Mark
4: "9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him
asked him about the parables. 11
He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God
has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in
parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never
perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t
you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
14 The farmer sows the word. 15
Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon
as they hear it, Satan
comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word
and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since
they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth
and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it
unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good
soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty,
some a hundred times what was sown.”
If we have been tattooed
by the Spirit, we will bear fruit! (2 Corinthians 9:8; Romans 7:4; Colossians 1:10; 2 Peter 1:5-8)
There is a “fake”
tattoo which the Bible warns us about. In Matthew 13:15, we see that we can
just as easily have a “bubble gum” tattoo. A fake tattoo is easily washed off, allowing
the Devil to steal it from our hearts.
The opposite of being
tattooed by God is seen in Mark 7:6, “These people honor me with your lips but
your hearts are far from me.”
Jude 1:12 "These people are blemishes … They are clouds without rain,
blown along by the wind..without fruit
and uprooted—twice dead."
LOOKING IN A MIRROR
Are we looking in a
mirror and then forgetting what we saw. Are we crying over a well-formed and
presented message, and then walking away to live as we please?
MAKING DISCIPLES
What comes into your mind and heart when you read this passage. Matthew 28:18-20 Most Americans believe this is the job of the “Clergy”, “Staff”, paid folk in the pulpit. If you were on a desert island and knew no other tradition and you read these words what would you think?
Are we looking in a
mirror and then forgetting what we saw? Are we crying over a well-delivered
message, and then walking away to live as we please?
James 1:22-26 "22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not
keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is
worthless.
Question: Why are my lips moving?
To promote myself and my interests? To share the Good News? To Glorify God? To reflect the Light to the world?
To promote myself and my interests? To share the Good News? To Glorify God? To reflect the Light to the world?
PLAY CHAPTER 3 VIDEO
TAKE-AWAY from this
Video? (10 minutes) Planning, suited up, but never really getting in the game
and run the play. Hiding out and putting under a bushel the Light of Life.
Fisherman story.
Fisherman story.
“I will make you fishers of men”
Several
years ago I ran across this story and am recreating it for you from memory. I
have never forgotten it, so I hope you will also remember it for a long time.
Once upon a
time there was sincere, dedicated fisherman who could go about catching all
kinds of fish in great quantities. He had studied each species and knew exactly
how to approach them so that they always came straight to his bait. He became
famous for his great fishing abilities. After a while other fishermen wanted to
know his techniques for catching fish so they hired him to do workshops on
catching fish. Soon all his time was dedicated to going throughout the country
teaching other fishermen how to catch fish.
Eventually,
admirers, of this expert, decided that they should build a great hall in his
honor so that he could deliver all his training sessions in a beautiful
setting. Fishermen from all over the world came to this great hall to listen to
the fascinating stories and to admire his success. A whole society grew up
around the fishing stories. All the members of the society would come once a
week to hear about fishing, how to catch fish, how to use the correct bait, how
to test the water, how to wait for the correct time of day, and how to cast
their rods in the right directions.
After many
years, the society had grown to great numbers. They met for special
conventions, BBQs, and to hear the stories about the good old days. Each member
purchased the recommended lures and rods and reels and kept them in perfect
condition in wood grained cabinets with glass fronts and special lighting.
There is
only one sad comment to this story. None of these members ever actually went
out and caught any fish. Even the expert had changed his priority from catching
fish to merely talking about catching fish.
You are spiritual enough to understand the analogy of this story.
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