-
Well, I don't know how you convince
-
a bunch of white boys
-
and a bunch of black boys
-
and a bunch of Latino boys
-
to all gather together
-
in a tiny little room
-
on a miserable night in November
-
to hear Bible preaching.
-
That must be Jesus.
-
So let's open the Bible together.
-
So, last night for those
of you that weren't here,
-
we began looking at the book of Philemon.
-
And we were talking about the fact
-
that men are called to lead
-
and they're called to lead well;
-
they're called to lead biblically.
-
They're called to lead themselves.
-
They're called to lead their wives,
-
their children.
-
They're called to encourage their friends.
-
And we saw that Paul is really the example
-
of skill in leadership.
-
And he led with his compelling character.
-
He says, "I, Paul, an old man
-
and a prisoner for the sake of Christ..."
-
He led out of who he was
-
and the weight of what
God had done in his life.
-
And then he led really
by a compelling change
-
that had happened in Philemon.
-
He's trying to get, if you'll remember,
-
he's trying to get Philemon
-
to forgive Onesimus.
-
Onesimus was a runaway slave
-
who had done Philemon dirty
-
and then stolen his money.
-
And had really stolen himself
-
away from Philemon.
-
And now Paul was trying to get Philemon
-
to forgive this runaway slave.
-
And so he first of all starts by saying
-
you should do it;
-
you should listen to me
-
because I'm Paul, a prisoner,
-
an old man for Christ.
-
And then he goes, and
then you should do it
-
because this guy's now your brother.
-
He's now my spiritual child.
-
He's changed.
-
He used to be - just like
everyone in this room
-
who is a Christian -
-
he used to be useless.
-
Now, he's useful.
-
What a great way to think of yourself
-
as a Christian.
-
I used to be useless.
-
Now, I'm useful.
-
And then he did it by giving
Philemon some space -
-
the freedom of choice.
-
He gave Philemon the liberty,
-
and he said I don't want to constrain you.
-
I don't want to force you.
-
I wanted to send Onesimus back
-
so you could think about
doing the right thing
-
and come to it for yourself.
-
And this evening, I want to focus
-
on one verse in the book of Philemon,
-
and it's verse 6.
-
And it might sound like it at first,
-
but I'll explain in a second
-
why this is not an evangelism verse.
-
Although, it certainly has some
implications for evangelism.
-
But in Philemon 1:6, it says,
-
"And I pray that the sharing of your faith
-
may become effective
for the full knowledge
-
of every good thing that is in us
-
for the sake of Christ."
-
"And I pray that the sharing of your faith
-
may become effective
-
for the full knowledge
-
of every good thing that is in us
-
for the sake of Christ."
-
Can you imagine that?
-
Having a fuller knowledge
of everything that is in you?
-
For the sake of Christ.
-
Knowing more about all that's in you
-
for the sake of Christ.
-
Above all, brothers, above all,
-
all the earthly treasures,
-
what the Christian wants is to know God.
-
That's the main thing
every Christian wants
-
is to know God.
-
If you're not in touch
with that right now,
-
you're not in touch with the main thing
-
that God has made new about you.
-
That's that you want to know God.
-
That's why you're gathered
in this little tiny room
-
is because we want to know God.
-
The cry of the Christian is the cry
-
of the Apostle Paul in Philippians -
-
"That I might know Him."
-
The difference between being of the world
-
and being of Christ is the world
-
does not know Him
-
and the Christian has tasted and seen
-
that the Lord is good.
-
The promise of the New Covenant
-
is "they shall all know Me.
-
No longer shall a brother
say to his brother,
-
'know the Lord,' but
they shall all know Me."
-
We look at each other around the fire,
-
we begin to talk about
the things of the Lord,
-
if you're a Christian, and you're like,
-
"Yes, brother, I know what
you're talking about."
-
Whatever background you come from
-
racially, socioeconomically,
-
all of a sudden, you find you have
-
the most important things in common
-
with the ones who know the Lord.
-
How does a Christian change?
-
We're transformed from one
degree of glory to another
-
as we see Him.
-
And we shall ultimately be like Him
-
when we see Him as He is,
-
because when we see Him as He is,
-
we will be like Him.
-
It's a transformative knowledge.
-
The more you get to know Jesus,
-
the more you become like Him.
-
The main thing about being a Christian
-
is knowing God.
-
It's everything.
-
It's everything to know God.
-
If there's anything in your Christian life
-
that isn't leading you to know God more,
-
you are going down a rabbit trail at best,
-
and you are going down
-
a destructive path at worst.
-
Because everything is meant
-
to serve the Christian and to bring them
-
to a knowledge of God.
-
Have you ever thought about this?
-
The reason we repent
-
is because we want to know God.
-
What's the difference
between worldly sorrow
-
and godly sorrow?
-
Worldly sorrow we're told leads to death.
-
Worldly sorrow is the kind Judas had
-
where it makes you depressed,
-
it makes you suicidal,
-
it makes you want to kill yourself,
-
but there's nothing godly about it.
-
Worldly sorrow is depressed
because it lost the world.
-
Do you know what Judas lost
-
when he betrayed the Son of God?
-
He was no longer going to be
able to enjoy the rest of his life.
-
He was going to have a defiled conscience
-
as being the one who handed over
-
the Son of God.
-
But he had no remorse
really about losing God.
-
He had no love for God.
-
Why do preachers who get caught
-
in sexual immorality
-
shed a couple tears
-
and then just try to get
their way through it
-
in the easiest way possible?
-
Because they have worldly sorrow.
-
They're sad that they can't
be the preacher anymore.
-
And they've lost the world.
-
It's worldly sorrow.
-
Godly sorrow is sad that
it's lost its grip on God.
-
That's why the slightest sin
-
can ultimately disturb a Christian, right?
-
Just the smallest thing.
-
Ugh! I can't enjoy my Lord!
-
I'm not walking in fellowship with Him.
-
It doesn't have to even be something
heinous like pornography.
-
It can be the slip of a tongue.
-
It can be something that you knew
-
the Lord didn't want you to do
-
and you did it anyway,
-
and then all of a sudden
the day is ruined.
-
It can be 75 degrees out.
-
There can be no snow clouds in the sky.
-
It can be all your friends around you,
-
and it's all misery because you're not
-
walking in fellowship with God.
-
And so what do we do?
-
We have godly sorrow and we repent.
-
We've got to have God.
We've got to have God.
-
Christians can't keep going on
-
with something on their conscience
-
because they've got to have God.
-
They've got to know God.
-
The Christian life is all
about knowing God,
-
and it's about knowing
Him better and better.
-
It's not just about coming to know Him
-
when we're converted.
-
It's about getting to know
Him better and better
-
after we're converted.
-
And what I want to point
out to you tonight
-
is that Philemon -
-
in the book of Philemon,
-
we're watching Paul,
-
but Paul is not just giving Philemon
-
a rule to follow.
-
Paul's not just trying to
give us an example
-
of what it looks like to
be an amazing leader
-
as important as that is.
-
Paul's trying to lead Philemon
-
to know God better.
-
And what Paul is telling us
-
is that the way you come
to know God better
-
is by obeying God.
-
Obedience is God's means
-
of further revelation to your soul.
-
Obedience is not just something you do
-
in response to God's revelation.
-
It is that.
-
Obedience is something we do
-
in response to God's revelation.
-
Therefore, in view of God's mercies,
-
offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
-
holy and pleasing to God.
-
In view of what He's done;
-
in view of what you've seen;
-
in view of what you know,
-
offer yourself as a
living sacrifice to God.
-
We obey because of what we know,
-
but we also know more once we obey.
-
And in that sense,
obedience is God's means
-
of further revelation of Himself
-
to your soul.
-
Let me spell this out.
-
Jesus said it clearer than
I'm going to say it.
-
So we'll just read Him.
-
He said in John 14,
-
"Whoever has My commandments
-
and keeps them,
-
he is it who loves Me.
-
And he who loves Me,
-
will be loved by My Father,
-
and I will love him
-
and manifest Myself to him."
-
Who hasn't prayed for that?
-
If that's not a regular cry of your heart,
-
I wonder if you even know the Lord.
-
I want to see more of You, Lord.
-
Sir, we would see Jesus.
-
That's the cry of the Christian.
-
That's the irony of the Christian.
-
We know the Lord, and what do we want
-
more than anything else?
-
We want to know the Lord.
-
That I might know Him.
-
That's our desire.
-
And here's Jesus telling you,
-
"I will manifest Myself.
-
I will display Myself.
-
I will show Myself to your soul."
-
The Apostle Paul prayed
for the Ephesian Christians,
-
in Ephesians 1.
-
And he prayed for them and he said,
-
he prayed that they
"might have a spirit of wisdom
-
and of revelation in
the knowledge of Him."
-
He wasn't praying that they would
-
increase their Bible knowledge.
-
The Ephesians were notorious
-
for their Bible knowledge.
-
You read chapter 1:3-14 of Ephesians
-
and it's pretty clear Paul knew
-
they had lots of Bible knowledge
-
because he's just going off -
-
praising God for God's election
-
and adoption, and redemption,
-
and Spirit-filling and sealing.
-
He's praising God for all of that,
-
and then he comes to the end of it
-
and he goes I just wish this
was lit up in your souls.
-
Isn't that the greatest frustration
-
of those Christians who have
learned good theology?
-
Lord, why isn't it on fire?
-
Why isn't it lit up?
-
I know more glorious truths
-
than almost every other Christian I meet
-
and yet, why isn't it on fire?
-
Why isn't it lit up?
-
Why isn't the spotlight
-
burning in my soul?
-
You know the difference between standing
-
out in the middle of that patio
-
and standing by the fire, right?
-
There's a big difference.
-
I want to be by the fire.
-
And you want God's Word
-
not to leave you out in the cold,
-
but to be lighting a fire.
-
And in Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul
-
says, "I pray that you'd have a spirit
-
of wisdom and revelation
-
in the knowledge of Him."
-
And he prays that the Spirit would
-
light up our hearts.
-
Is your heart being lit up?
-
What did the disciples say
on the road back to Emmaus?
-
Or the road from Emmaus?
-
As Jesus opens up the Scriptures,
-
they go, "did not our hearts
-
burn within us?"
-
Mormons aren't the only people
-
who should be talking
about the burning heart.
-
Man oh man, we have the heart
-
that should burn after God's truth.
-
You want that, beloved.
-
You want more of that?
-
I hate every day I go through life
-
without the fullness of that.
-
It's a sadness to the Christian
-
not to see more of the Lord
-
and to have - just listen to it -
-
"I will manifest Myself to you."
-
"I'm going to show you more of Me."
-
"I'm going to make your soul
quake with My holiness."
-
"I'm going to make your
heart melt with My love."
-
"I'm going to make your heart
thrill with My promises."
-
"I'm going to show you more about Me."
-
In Ephesians 1 it says,
"That the eyes of your heart
-
might be enlightened, that you might know
-
the power that's at work in you."
-
That you might know the
inheritance that you have.
-
That you might know
the hope that you have.
-
So that heaven is not something
-
distant and abstract,
but it's lit up in your heart.
-
So that being God's people
-
is not just like, yeah, I'm a Christian,
-
but it's gripping your heart,
-
so that resurrection power
-
is not something distant and abstract,
-
but it's something where
you face a temptation
-
and you're like,
"I have resurrection power!"
-
"I know it!"
-
"I know it's at work in me."
-
And the pathway into more and more
-
knowledge of the Lord like that
-
is greater and greater obedience.
-
This generation is so
confused about obedience.
-
Every single time you
mention the word obedience
-
in this generation, someone is going to
-
start talking about legalism.
-
Beloved, obedience is not legalism.
-
Legalism is one of two things.
-
Legalism is when someone says,
-
"you need to obey this
-
and then you'll be accepted by God."
-
That's legalism.
-
Legalism is when someone adds to the Bible
-
what's not in the Bible
-
and says, "Thus saith the Lord,"
-
when the Lord didn't say anything.
-
That's legalism.
-
But the Lord Jesus, when He told us
-
to go and teach people to
obey everything He commanded
-
was not the world's greatest legalist,
-
He was the world's greatest Savior.
-
He was leading His people to follow
-
the One who had set their souls free
-
with truth.
-
And He knew that as He
led them in obedience,
-
they weren't just going
to be His rule keepers,
-
they were going to be increasing
-
in the knowledge of Christ.
-
Knowing Him more.
-
And you ought to meet
-
every command in the Scripture
-
as a wide open door of possibility
-
to know your God better.
-
Isn't that amazing?
-
We get a command and we're like,
-
"that's going to cost me."
-
"That's going to pinch me."
-
"That's going to limit me."
-
"That's going to hinder me."
-
Rather than thinking,
that's going to open me
-
wide open to knowing Him better.
-
So here in Philemon 1:6,
-
the Apostle Paul puts a big umbrella
-
over the whole book -
-
a big prayer covering
-
over the whole book -
-
and the prayer is that Philemon,
-
by the sharing of his faith,
-
would become effective
for the full knowledge
-
of every good thing that's in us
-
for the sake of Christ.
-
Now, in our English versions,
-
this term "pray for the
sharing of our faith,"
-
we can't help but think of evangelism.
-
We call evangelism "sharing your faith."
-
And that's good.
-
Evangelism is sharing your faith,
-
but evangelism is really
not the main focus
-
of the book of Philemon.
-
And the whole idea here
of sharing your faith
-
is really "koinonia" your faith.
-
Participation in your faith.
-
A sharing of your faith.
-
So it's really this idea of:
-
I want you to live
out your faith, Philemon.
-
I want you to put into practice:
-
Christ is a forgiving God.
-
I want you to put into practice
-
that forgiveness towards Onesimus.
-
Christ is a God who makes people
-
from different backgrounds brothers.
-
I want you to put that
into practice, Philemon.
-
And as you put that in practice;
-
as you share your faith
-
and participate in your faith
-
and have this koinonia with the truth,
-
what is going to happen to you, Philemon,
-
is that you are going to find
-
that this becomes effective -
-
not possible brothers -
-
effective for the full knowledge
-
of what we have in us
-
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
-
For the full knowledge of every good thing
-
that is in us for the sake of Christ.
-
This principle that obedience leads
-
to greater understanding of the truth,
-
it's all over the Bible.
-
It's an evangelistic principle.
-
John 7:17,
-
"If anyone's will is to do God's will,
-
he will know whether
the teaching is from God
-
or whether I am speaking
on My own authority."
-
If there's anyone here who doesn't know
-
that God's teaching comes through Christ,
-
I'll tell you why you don't know.
-
Because you're not willing to do it.
-
You're not willing to do it.
-
There is some magazine under your bed;
-
there's something under your Internet;
-
there's something in your family;
-
there's some obedience you
know you'd be called to
-
and you don't want to do it.
-
And there's some piece
of pride in your heart
-
that you don't want to let go of,
-
and you do not want to let go of it
because the minute that you do,
-
I'll tell you what, you'll know
that it's really from God.
-
You're in a moral coverup.
-
You're holding on to your own sin
-
until you can't even see the truth.
-
But the minute you're willing to obey,
-
He'll show you it's all true.
-
Isn't that amazing?
-
It goes on not just in our evangelism,
-
but this principle that obedience
-
leads to greater revelation
-
can be found in Colossians 1:10.
-
And when I say greater revelation,
-
I don't mean you obey
and you get something
-
better than the Bible.
-
I mean you obey and you get deeper,
-
sweeter insight into the Bible.
-
Colossians 1:10,
-
the Apostle Paul - we'll start in v. 9 -
-
starts praying here again.
-
"And so from the day we heard,
-
we have not ceased to pray for you
-
asking that you may be filled
-
with all the knowledge of His will
-
in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding."
-
So I want you to know God's will
-
and I don't want you
to be fools about it.
-
I want you to know it in spiritual
wisdom and understanding.
-
I want you to have some savvy
-
and some spiritual insight.
-
And so I want you to know God's will
-
in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding
-
so that you can walk in a
manner worthy of the Lord.
-
So, you're obedient; walking in
a manner worthy of the Lord.
-
"Fully pleasing to Him,
-
bearing fruit in every good work
-
and increasing in the knowledge of God."
-
I want you to have mature,
-
balanced obedience
-
so that you will increase
-
in the knowledge of God.
-
The same principle's in Ephesians 3:14-21.
-
Ephesians 3 - maybe my favorite passage
-
in the New Testament.
-
Ephesians 3:14-21.
-
The Apostle Paul says,
-
"For this reason, I bow my knees
-
before the Father,
-
from whom every family in heaven
-
and on earth is named,
-
that according to the riches of His glory,
-
He may grant you to be strengthened
-
with power through His
Spirit in your inner being."
-
So, the first thing Paul prays:
-
I want you to have power.
I want you to have spiritual power.
-
That's what you need to obey.
-
That's what you need
to do with will of God.
-
You need spiritual power.
-
You don't just need it on
the outside coercing you.
-
You need it on the inside.
-
And I want to ask that you get this power
-
in your inner man,
-
so that...
-
Christ might dwell in your hearts
-
through faith.
-
Well, isn't Christ already
dwelling in our hearts?
-
Yes, He is.
-
Yet the word here is oikodomia.
-
It's this idea of settling down at home.
-
Settling down at home.
-
One person has illustrated this
-
that when you move into a house
-
and decide you don't like the color
-
of the living room,
-
so you paint it the color you want.
-
You don't really like that lima bean green
-
in the bathroom,
-
so you change that one up too.
-
You wanted a patio in the back,
-
so you build one of those.
-
And after ten years,
you're like, this place...
-
this is home.
-
Well, Christ moves in and He's like
-
I'm not really sure I like what
you're doing in the bedroom,
-
so He rearranges things.
-
I'm not sure I like what
you're doing in the wallet.
-
So He rearranges things.
-
And then He settles down
increasingly at home.
-
And pretty soon, you open your wallet,
-
and you know you've got His smile.
-
You walk into the bedroom,
you know you've got His smile.
-
You turn on the TV or turn off the TV,
-
whichever it is and you know
you've got His smile.
-
And you want that power in the inner man
-
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
-
through faith.
-
And then he goes on,
-
"...so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith
-
that you being rooted
and grounded in love."
-
Your roots are just soaking
up the love of Christ.
-
"...May have strength to comprehend
-
with all the saints what is the breadth
-
and length and height and depth
-
and to know the love of Christ
-
that surpasses knowledge."
-
Man, it's important to have knowledge
-
in the Christian life.
-
Careful, clear, doctrinal knowledge.
-
And once you've got it all right,
-
God will blow it up with His love
-
and go beyond it.
-
He does not bypass knowledge.
-
But He does surpass
knowledge, doesn't He.
-
He goes beyond knowledge, doesn't He.
-
You want to know God like that?
-
I love the story of the preacher.
-
He prayed that God would
show Him to himself
-
in more intimacy and power.
-
And the Lord just descended on him one day
-
and eventually he had to ask Him to stop.
-
He was receiving such
manifestations of Christ.
-
I find in this generation, most of us
-
are just walking around going, "start!"
-
I want to live in a "stop" generation.
-
Lord, it's too much.
-
It's too much for me.
-
C.H. Spurgeon said,
-
"There is as much difference between
-
a mature Christian and immature Christian
-
as there is between a
believer and an unbeliever."
-
There's no end to the heights, brothers.
-
There's no end of the heights
-
of the knowledge of God
-
that we can be brought into,
-
and yet some people are apathetic
-
in the Christian walk
-
and they scoot back from obedience
-
as if they're keeping some
freedom for themselves.
-
We're only cheating ourselves when we
-
don't walk in obedience to the Lord.
-
Obedience is the pathway
-
to further manifestation;
-
to further illumination;
-
to further revelation from the Scriptures
-
of what God is like and who He is for you,
-
and not only that,
-
but who you have been made in Him.
-
I don't know about you, but I find
-
the greatest moments of being a Christian
-
are when I just realize I am a Christian.
-
Man, I'm a Christian!
-
Saved before the world's foundation.
-
Before there was a creation,
I was on His mind.
-
He knew I would see the revelation,
-
Him in all His adoration,
-
knowing I was His creation,
-
He walked up Calvary's hill to save me,
-
before the world's foundation,
I was on His mind.
-
I was with Him all the time.
-
It's incredible!
-
And now I'm a new creation.
-
Now the third Person of the Trinity
-
has decided to dwell in me,
-
so that He can cause me to call out
-
to the first Person of the Trinity,
-
"Abba, Father,"
-
through the second Person of the Trinity
-
who loved me and gave Himself for me.
-
What a thing it is to be just a Christian!
-
I just want to walk through
life knowing I'm a Christian.
-
I need the full knowledge
-
of all that God's done in me.
-
That's what I need.
-
And all of a sudden
when you get intimidated,
-
I don't know if you've
ever experienced this,
-
but there's some people I'm
intimidated to witness to,
-
and there's some people I'm
not intimidated to witness to.
-
It's just my shameful pride
that makes it that way.
-
There are some people
I feel a little better than,
-
so I just head right in there
-
and give the gospel to them.
-
There's some people,
-
I don't want them to think I'm a fool,
-
so I'm a little bit more sophisticated
-
I like to think.
-
Cowardly is the real word.
-
What would I need to overcome that?
-
Just a full knowledge that
I'm a child of the King!
-
That all I would ever need to be bold
-
is already in me,
-
and He wants to help me.
-
And that, brothers, comes
-
through a life of obedience.
-
It comes through a life
of running from sin
-
and running towards righteousness.
-
Now, I don't mean that now
-
you can only trust God's going to help you
-
when you've been perfect that day.
-
That's not what I'm talking about at all.
-
That's legalism.
-
God's not helping you
unless you're perfect.
-
That's not what I'm talking about.
-
We all stumble in many ways.
-
But I am talking about a bent;
-
I'm talking about an orientation;
-
I'm talking about direction
-
that says I'm going towards Christ
-
all the time.
-
And whenever I see myself fall from that,
-
I'm asking Him to forgive me
-
and I keep walking towards the light.
-
Men like that keep getting more light.
-
They keep getting more
manifestation of Christ
-
to their souls.
-
So Paul is saying here to Philemon,
-
listen, there's a guy who's a slave.
-
You're a slave owner.
-
Slave owners and slaves -
-
you're not really notorious
-
for having warm,
intimate fellowship, right?
-
Not only that - that he is a slave,
-
and that you are a slave holder,
-
he's done you wrong
-
and you've been wronged.
-
And not only that,
-
but he's ashamed
-
and you know why he's ashamed.
-
And I want you to extend
forgiveness to him,
-
and I want you to know what it's like
-
to have him as a brother.
-
I want you to know what it's like
-
to see God be the glory
-
and the lifter of his head
-
and take his shame away.
-
I want you to see that God forgave you
-
and now you get to forgive him.
-
And I want you to feel the pulsing
love of Christ in your heart
-
forgiving him.
-
We've been called to
walk as Christ walked,
-
to fellowship in His sufferings,
-
to fellowship in His forgiveness,
-
to fellowship in His mercy.
-
And that's what Paul is
inviting Philemon into.
-
So let me just leave
you with this, brothers.
-
Speak this truth.
-
We're called to lead.
-
You speak this truth.
-
Speak it everywhere you have
-
even a grain of influence,
-
and you speak it to each other
-
over the course of
the rest of this retreat.
-
Speak this truth:
-
"Oh brother, I hope that God
-
will help you to walk in the faith
-
so you'll know more about the faith.
-
I hope that God will help
you to walk in obedience
-
so that you'll know more of Him."
-
Don't just speak this truth.
-
Pray this truth.
-
Did you notice that I've read four texts
-
that prove that obedience leads
-
to greater manifestations of Christ,
-
and three of them were prayers?
-
Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon -
-
those were all, "And I pray..."
-
Brothers, leadership doesn't start
-
with you talking to people.
-
It doesn't start with you
at the front of people.
-
It starts where no one sees us
-
except our Father.
-
It starts with us talking
about people to God.
-
Lord, would You let them see?
-
Lord, would You let them obey?
-
Lord, would You let them grow in obedience
-
so they can know more of You?
-
You know what that does?
-
That helps you trust the promises of God
-
for other believers.
-
One of the biggest problems that happens
-
when we try to lead people,
-
is they get the impression
that we don't think
-
they're actually going to grow.
-
"You really need to do this...
-
Really need to."
-
Listen to what Paul says in Philemon.
-
He says that he's confident that Philemon
-
will obey.
-
Do people get that from you?
-
"Man, I just know that
God's at work in your life.
-
I'm sure you're going to
come around to the truth.
-
I'm just confident that
you're going to obey."
-
Now, I'll admit to you,
-
there are some Christians -
-
their lives are dicey.
-
There are harder moments
to believe that isn't there?
-
You know what Paul said to the Galatians?
-
I'm confident you'll take
no other view than mine.
-
Even in this urgent moment,
-
he's like: these are believers.
-
They're going to turn around.
-
And in Philemon, he does
the exact same thing.
-
In chapter 1:21, when he says,
-
"I'm confident of your obedience.
-
I write to you knowing that you will do
-
even more than I say."
-
Well, that's even more isn't it?
-
I'm laying out to you what I
hope Christ will do in your heart.
-
I just know you're going
to do more than that.
-
Brothers, there's a power that comes
-
when someone godly expresses
-
the truth about God towards you.
-
It's not the power of legalism.
-
It's the power that John Paton spoke about
-
when his father raised him
-
and poured into him all those years,
-
and then he left his father
in the hills of Scotland,
-
and he said, "I just never
wanted to displease that man."
-
When someone older and wiser
-
looks at you and says,
-
"Jesus is working in you,
-
I just know you're going to
go above and beyond
-
and really walk with Him,"
-
you really walk away like,
-
"Oh Lord, I hope that's true!
-
I want to see that be real in my life.
-
I want to see that.
-
I don't want to make that
hero of mine ashamed."
-
Those are wonderful,
wonderful motivations.
-
Fear is not the only motivation.
-
You need to speak this truth.
-
You need to pray this truth.
-
I don't know what you all do
for these kinds of things.
-
I keep a picture book
of our church with me
-
and pray for our people.
-
This would be one of the
things I'd want to pray.
-
Lord, would You just help them to
obey You so they'd know You.
-
The last thing I want to leave you with
-
is would you trust this truth tonight?
-
Would you take - or,
I'm confident you will take
-
a practical next step.
-
What is it?
-
What is it for you?
-
I've been a Christian long enough to know
-
there's almost always something
-
gnawing at the conscience of a Christian.
-
Right?
-
I know I need to grow.
-
Well, let the Holy Spirit
fill in the blank.
-
It's not the same for everyone.
-
Some people - they can barely
-
pull themselves away from pornography.
-
Some people - they aren't
even tempted to look.
-
We face different struggles,
don't we, brothers?
-
Some people are just naturally frugal.
-
Some people just naturally aren't.
-
But we each stumble in many ways,
-
and we each have areas the Holy Spirit
-
puts His finger on
-
and says, "That one's next."
-
And when He says, "That one's next,"
-
our flesh screams.
-
"Don't touch that one!"
-
"I'll give You one of those
things I'm good at obeying."
-
I had a guy ask me one time,
-
how does God help you to be bold?
-
He was kind of a timid guy.
-
How does God help you to be bold?
-
I said I'm going to be honest with you.
-
That's not really my problem.
-
I don't have problems
being bold in preaching.
-
I've got problems in being
compassionate in preaching.
-
I've got problems being sweet.
-
That's where the Holy Spirit
might put His finger on me.
-
Where does He put His finger on you?
-
That very place is a precious invitation
-
from the Lord to know Him more.
-
He wants to reveal
Himself increasingly to you.
-
And this isn't tit-for-tat.
-
Hey, I had a good day.
Where was my revelation?
-
That isn't how this works, okay.
-
God is not your genie -
-
if you do 24/7 of obedience,
-
He'll give you a nice hour of
inundation with His presence.
-
That's not how this works.
-
This is all of grace.
-
It's all of His sovereign good hand.
-
But I'll tell you one place
He won't meet you:
-
disobedience.
-
He only has one thing
He'll do if He meets you
-
in disobedience and
that is He'll reprove you,
-
discipline you,
-
bring you back
-
even through showers of mercy.
-
But He wants to reveal Himself to you.
-
So you take that place,
you hold it in your heart.
-
Maybe you express it to a brother.
-
And you recognize that
place as holy ground
-
where God wants to begin to keep
-
walking you in obedience
-
because He's going to reveal
more of Himself to you.
-
He'll give you more illumination.
-
And when you speak to people
-
about the problems in their life,
-
you realize you're not just there
-
applying leadership principles.
-
That's not it.
-
You're not just trying to get them to be
-
more biblical or more conservative
-
or more whatever.
-
You're inviting them into
the knowledge of God.
-
You're eager to see them grow
-
in the knowledge of God.
-
And when that's there, brothers,
-
when that's there,
-
you get churches that can be
-
insanely obedient,
-
and they just get more gracious,
-
not more legalistic.
-
Because they're just all
digging for treasure.
-
Lord, give me more.
-
Let's pray.
-
Father, we thank You -
-
we thank You that You would choose us
-
and make us Christian,
-
but we pray that if there are any here
-
who don't know You,
-
that they would be willing to obey You
-
and You would show them that
Your teaching is from God.
-
Lord God, we come before You
-
and we ask You for those
of us who are Christians
-
that we would see those
areas You're pinpointing -
-
maybe an area of self-control,
-
maybe an area with our finances,
-
or an action towards our children,
-
or our wives - maybe it's a lot of things.
-
Maybe it's just one thing for now,
-
but Lord, whatever You open up,
-
we pray that we would just see it
-
as the pathway to knowing You better.
-
And we would just acknowledge
-
that You have made us know You,
-
and You've made us want nothing more
-
than to know You more.
-
So we would just follow that.
-
Lord, we plead with You for this,
-
in Christ's name, Amen.