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úYajdih weoys,a, hemSu 12Jan16 Week 2 www.leaderintouch.com Work out your Salvation ms,smams 3(8-11 Eph 5:8-10, Phil 2:13 •God is working within us, and we are working it out! •And combined it leads to ‘His good pleasure’ •for we are instructed by the Apostle Paul to ‘learn what is pleasing to the Lord.’ •What pleases God? And what displeases Him? Pleasing God Inward Transformation External working of this reality Faith Desires of the heart Inward awe of the majesty and faithfulness of God Forget Religion and Get real Our sanctification Unashamed Testimony of God Praise of God through trials Our giving •ms,sma ms 3(811 His Good Pleasure 4. Forget Religion get real ms,smams 3(8-11 Psalm 51:16-17 ? God himself commanded ? (Isa 1:11-14, Jer 6:20, Amos 5:21-24) It is like a performance – light camera action Time , Praise , Money, Prayer – Offerings Pharisees substituted outward conformity for inward reality and fully ticked Jesus off! John 5:39-40 Zeal for the law of God The thousands of extra laws that they added to God’s word were an attempt to be ‘outwardly correct’ in all facets of their life. Yet Jesus couldn’t stand it! 4. Forget Religion get real..cntd ms,smams 3(8-11 Be real with God! Be real about your condition. Be real with other Christians. God is pleased with honesty and a heart that is humble and contrite before Him. At the end of his life, David uttered these words, which still ring true today. 1 Chronicles 29:17 Pleased with Integrity, Honest intent Be encouraged ! If you are feeling dead as a hammer then that is what the Lord would like to hear. 4. Forget Religion get real.cntd ms,smams 3(8-11 The Holy Spirit doesn’t work the reality of His presence into our life while we are still just putting on ‘a show’. But He does delight in those who are honest about the condition of their own heart and in humility, look to Him for the reality of the Christian life. It’s meant to be about pleasing him, not pleasing other Christians! 4. Forget Religion get real..cntd ms,smams 3(8-11 The life of many Christians today is largely pretence. They live a ‘spiritual’ life, talk a ‘spiritual’ language, adopt ‘spiritual’ attitudes, but they are doing the whole thing themselves. It is the effort involved that should reveal that something is wrong… Nothing is so hurtful to the life of the Christian as acting; nothing is so blessed as when our outward efforts cease and our attitude become natural… an unforced expression of the life within.’ 4. Forget Religion get real..cntd ms,smams 3(8-11 Pharisees looked good. With their grand announcements when they gave to the poor, and their pious prayers on the street corners so everyone could hear them… Or their gloomy faces so that everyone would know when they are fasting. Get real. Be normal. Be honest! Through the Lord’s grace we have been given a gift of righteousness so that the theatre masks of religion and performance can come off! External working of this reality 1. 2. 3. 4. ms,smams Our sanctification 3(8-11 Unashamed Testimony of God Praise of God through trials Our giving 1. Our Sanctification ms,smams 3(8-11 •To be sanctified means to be ‘set apart’. 1 Thess. 4:1-5. •In the first study we saw that faith was the over-riding inward principle for everything that we do. •Well, sanctification is the over-riding outward manifestation for pleasing God. •It means to set apart for God and this covers all of the smaller issues in which we can please God. 1. Our Sanctification…cntd ms,smams 3(8-11 Paul has already instructed the • • believers on how to live in order to be pleasing to God, but he stresses the key point here again for them. That is, that it is God’s will for them they be sanctified or set apart for Him, avoiding sexual immorality and controlling their bodies in a holy and honourable way. 1. Our Sanctification…cntd Lots of people desire 3(8-11 to know the will of ms,smams God, but scripture declares two definite • • • things which never change concerning His will. Firstly, that which is stated here in that it is always His will that you be sanctified. Secondly, that you give thanks in all circumstances. (1Thes 5:18). Concerning these things we just don’t need to ask! 1. Why does sanctification please God? • ms,smams 3(8-11 • • Several reasons, but they all stem from the fact that God’s very nature is holy, righteous, and good. When God’s spirit is restored to mankind at salvation, we are told that once again we have ‘the hope of glory.’ (Col 1:27). Glory in the bible can be used in different ways, but in this passage it speaks of the nature and character of God – the very thing we have all sinned and fallen short of. (Rom 3:23). 1. Why does sanctification please God? • Without God, we don’t have a choice as to whether we will sin. We may chose the ‘when and where’, but not the ‘if’. But when God works in a believer, He works toward producing His nature in that person, and through dependence, we have a choice between sin and righteousness. It is the heart of God’s plan that His nature is reflected through us. ms,smams 3(8-11 • • • 1. Why does sanctification please God? • ms,smams 3(8-11 • • Unbelievers should not only hear the gospel, but also see the difference it has made in our life. Paul said, ‘If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who would prepare for battle?’ Likewise, how confusing would the message be if we speak one thing and live another? No, it is pleasing for God to have people set apart for Himself. 1. Sanctification explained • ms,smams 3(8-11 • • Sanctification is not just being set apart from sin, but being set apart for God. He wants you!! (All He wants is YOU) All throughout the Bible God has desired a people that would be His own. A people that would not run after other god’s or idols (in whatever shape and form they come in), but a people who would love Him and be devoted to Him. 1. Sanctification explained • • • ms,smams 3(8-11 We see this in the OT where Israel is repeatedly portrayed as an adulterous wife, causing great sorrow, yet one whom He loves. (Hosea 3, Ezek 16). Likewise the church in this age is the bride of Christ. So our sanctification is not just for ourselves, or for those around us. It’s for Him and His pleasure. ‘Your maker ’, Isaiah tells us, ‘is also your husband.’ (54:5) And no husband should ever have to share his wife. 1. Sanctification explained • 2 Tim 2:20-22 - Vessel of honor useful for the master prepared for every good work • Col 1:10-11 - Live a life of worthy of the Lord, and may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work It is always the will of God that we live a life worthy of Him, pleasing Him, bearing fruit, growing in our knowledge of Him, and being strengthened by his power so that all of these things may take place. ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God 1 Thes 2:2-4 …with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.’ ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • Here, we have a different aspect of our sanctification for God. • Recollect that one of the inward attitudes that God is seeking to install in our lives is a fear and awe of Him. • That is, that in our hearts we would set apart (sanctify) Jesus as Lord and be more concerned with what He thinks, than what men think. How is this attitude outwardly manifested? One of the most important ways is in our witness and testimony for Jesus. ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • Paul writes that he ‘dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition’. • Ever been there? You may not face physical persecution like Paul sometimes did, but I think most of us have faced verbal opposition from a world opposed to the knowledge of God. • So here is where the rubber meets the road… Lets say you are in a situation where you want to share the truth of God’s word with someone, but you know they probably won’t like what you say. ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • Could be to a non-Christian, witnessing the truth that Jesus is the only way to the Father. • Could be a Christian brother in need of correction. • Can you think of an example where this has happened? How did you react? Did you just clam up and not say anything? Did you let something out but water it down so that it no one was offended? Or do you speak the truth in love? Eph 4:15 ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • Paul states that ‘we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.’ • God has entrusted us with His precious gospel – the good news of what Jesus did on the cross. • He has entrusted us to speak that truth to other people! They may find Eternal Life through your testimony !!! • Are you convicted? Who wants to share an experience? ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • Paul says, not ‘to please men, but God, who tests our hearts.’ • When we speak to please men, we water down the truth so that we will still be popular and won’t offend anyone. • When we speak to please God, we say as accurately as possible what the word of God teaches, and leave the consequences up to God. • 2 Cor 2:14-16 Through us spreads, fragrance of the knowledge of him, aroma of Christ. ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • That is the attitude we are to take in our testimony about Jesus. • We are to speak the truth and spread the knowledge of Him. • To some, it will be the smell of death. And that’s not exactly pleasant! They won’t like what we say, but we speak as those who want to please God, not man. Yet to others, it will be life! A sweet fragrance, and the very answer for which they have sought. ms,smams 3(8-11 2. Unashamed Testimony about God • As Paul concludes – ‘who is equal to such a task?’ • Why would God entrust something so precious (the gospel) to you and me? • Jer 9:24 – Let him boast of God • Let us ask the Lord to be our confidence, so that in our witness about Him, we may seek to please Him and not man. • Gal 1:10, Rom 8:8, Heb 13:16. • ms,smams 3(8-11