"Is that You Lord?" Pastor Dan Cravillion

Is That You Lord?

2014-11-23

Rom 8:1-4

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.“

Last week we learned to preach Gospel to ourselves & take our thoughts captive, but sometimes it is difficult to know what thoughts are of God, our sinful flesh, or even the enemy. 

• Not everything that sounds “godly” is the Holy Spirit. Mt 24:11, 4:5-7, Act 16:16-18

We need to put thoughts into few concise sentences & use scripture as filter/lens.

·      Is it sin?  Doe it line up with the Bible & is it used in proper context…not just IN the Bible?

o   If it’s not sin or unbiblical then continue discerning by these steps:

1. Specific or General

• The enemy’s condemnation is usually GENERAL. 
• Such as thinking you are a ‘Lousy Christian,  hypocrite, nothing good is happening in your life, nobody cares.”
• It’s usually feelings focused: EVERYTHING is wrong but you can’t put your finger on ANYTHING specific.
• Response: “If it’s you Lord, please show me exactly what I’ve done/wrong!”   
• Holy Spirit’s conviction is usually SPECIFIC. 

o   You lied, cursed, you need to take more responsibility with family.

2. Sometimes it may be specific but it’s till not the Holy Spirit….ask yourself “Who does this  thought sound like?’ 

• Enemy: accuses God, you & others & is works focused.
• Thinking “God is tyrant, He is a disapproving Father, unforgiving, angry judge.”
• “You just lied AGAIN & I’m done forgiving you for that sin.”
• Satan uses the law against you & likes to dwell on the past.
• Condemn: find fault with, adverse sentence, to judge against.

§  Jesus does not drive us by law but draws us with love.

• Holy Spirit: brings gentle discipline & loving conviction.
• Conviction: tell a fault, rebuke, convince. Heb 12:10-11, Jn 16:8     
•  “Forget the past!” your sin is forgiven & put away.

o   Grace is not undercut by obedience or doesn’t encourage apathy. 

§  Grace/gospel: “I’m accepted through Jesus, therefore I obey.”

§  Religion/law: “If I obey, I’m accepted.”

3. If the thoughts are specific & sound like God not it’s time to check the motive: What is the desired outcome?

·      Enemy’s condemnation: discouragement to drive us away from God and/or body of Christ, then lose heart & eventually give-up.

·      You lied again & I’m holy so don’t come back to Me until you get victory.

• Like a wolf: Satan separates a lamb from the Shepherd & flock & then destroys it.
• Isolates, you then feel lonely, hurt, rejected by others, & angry.
• Holy Spirit’s conviction … Encourages closer fellowship with Jesus and Christians and gives hope, reassurance of God’s love, forgiveness, & grace.

o   The focus: trust/rely on Christ’s willingness & power to save/keep you.

·      Conviction & condemnation like knives.  Is 1:18, Rom 5:1-2, 8:1, Jer 17:9

o   Condemnation ….a robbers knife randomly slashes & desires harm.

o   Conviction… a surgeon’s knife is precise with goal of healing.

In this season where joy & acceptance should be the norm, many experience feelings of inadequacy & condemnation.

·      Remember: feelings of condemnation are just that- feelings. It isn't the truth.

o   If you are a Christian, you are loved, accepted, & forgiven by the One who matters most….Jesus!

Gospel Centered Thinking - Pastor Dan Cravillion

Gospel Centered Thinking

2014-11-16

Romans 12:1-2, 21

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Explained what Gospel is & that the person & work of Jesus Christ is the “good news”

·      The Gospel converts & transforms (sanctifies) individuals.

·      The Gospel is a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, instrument of God's power in our lives.

We must daily preach the Gospel to ourselves because we have spiritually unhealthy thoughts, emotional turmoil & eventually sin.  Mt 15:18-19, Jam 1:14-15, Gal 6:7-9

·      Sinful thoughts: if acted upon would clearly be sinful.

·      un-Biblical thoughts… things Bible says NOT true about us/others:

o   Thinking thoughts like- I’m hated by God, I’m a loser, worthless, God must have made a mistake, I’ll never be happy/victory, God isn’t worth it, nobody loves, etc. are unbiblical.

These spiritually unhealthy thoughts just come, but what we do with them is choice.

·      We either recognize danger & turn away OR allow & dwell on it:

o   We reap what we sow in our thought life.

§  Non-Theological way to put it would be: Garbage In/out, Gospel in/good Out

The Gospel is the foundation for “renewing mind” & taking thoughts captive. 2 Cor 10:4-5, Rom 12:1-2, 21, Prov 6:27

·      Thus is not ‘name it claim it’ or the power of positive thinking, but a process (sanctification) that is both proactive & reactive, both offensive & defensive.

We are to run away, and flee spiritually unhealthy thinking. 

·      “starve” or cut off sources that feed sinful, unbiblical thinking.

o   TV shows, websites (Pinterest), books,

o   Can’t flee from something that you still hold ‘precious” in your mind.

·      reflect on your sin, situations & evaluate thru gospel lens.

o   Biblical truth never requires you to deny reality.

§  But let the Gospel be the filter about what is true about yourself, the world, people, situations, and how problems solved.

• Change the channel of your mind & get interested in something else.

o   We move toward whatever we focus our attention on. 

• Like when we watch a food ad we may feel hungry, or a yawn causes others to yawn.

Run away from focusing on harmful, sinful, unbiblical thoughts & run toward (pursue) thinking about what is good/true/right.  2 Tim 2:22-23, Phil 4:8, Col 3:2-3, Rom 8:5-6

·      Feed your souls BEFORE spiritually unhealthy thoughts overwhelm you & produce bad fruit.

• One of the main reasons we should read and memorize scripture. 

§  Can’t get out what I don’t put in!!!

·      “What you feed in your life grows.”  John Wesley

·      When we forget Gospel- fear, frustration, and sin can overwhelm us. Fitzpatrick quote

No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do.  Paul Tripp

·      So daily preach the Gospel to yourself so it will bear good fruit. Psa. 42:5, Lam. 3:21-24, Jn 15:4-5

·      Not a message or even a theology, but a person…Jesus.

o   Remind yourself of the person, presence, & provisions of Christ.

§  Think 1^st “What has Christ has done” not “What would JC do?”

·      Think less of yourself & your performance & more about Jesus & His performance for you.

“One reason we don’t grow in ordinary, grateful obedience as we should is that we’ve got amnesia; we’ve forgotten that we are cleansed from our sins. In other words, ongoing failure in sanctification (the slow process of change into Christlikeness) is the direct result of failing to remember God’s love for us in the gospel. If we lack the comfort and assurance that his love and cleansing are meant to supply, our failures will handcuff us to yesterday’s sins, and we won’t have faith or courage to fight against them, or the love for God that’s meant to empower this war. If we fail to remember our justification, redemption, and reconciliation, we’ll struggle in our sanctification. Christian growth, in other words, does not happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what JC has already secured for sinners.” Elyse Fitzpatrick

But all my deeds and my good name
Are just dirty rags that tear and strain
To cover all my guilty stains
I was fighting battles when You conquered hell
Living free but from a prison cell
Lord, I lay it down today

So I’ll stop living off of how I feel
And start standing on Your truth revealed
Jesus is my strength, my shield
And He will never fail me

No more chains, I’ve been set free
No more fighting battles You’ve won for me
Now in Christ, I stand complete

From Casting Crowns song All You’ve Ever Wanted

The Gospel’s Daily Provision - Pastor Dan Cravillion

The Gospel’s Daily Provision

Romans 6:5-14

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

‘Gospel’ is phrase Christians often use without fully understanding it’s significance.

• In the Greek, “gospel” (ev-angelion), was associated with the news of a great historical event that changed a listeners’ condition & required a response.
• Gospel is literally “good news”: God is holy, mankind are hopeless sinners; Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became man, lived a sinless life under Law, He then died and was resurrected for sinners. Salvation comes only thru faith in Jesus the Christ.
• The “good news” is that the righteousness God demands from us, He gives to us in the person & work of Christ.
• Called “Gospel of Jesus Christ” in the Word: Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 9:12; 2 Cor 2:12; 9:13; 10:14; Gal 1:7

Many Christians only see the Gospel as a door INTO God’s kingdom. 

• But the Gospel converts & transforms (sanctifies) individuals. Rom 1:16-17, 6:6-8, 14, 22-23, 7:22-23
• It Provides freedom from sin’s penalty & release from sin’s power.

Christians still experience sinful desires but because of the Gospel (inc. indwelling Holy Spirit) we no longer have to give into it. 

• The flesh with its desires is dead in the sense that we no longer live under sin's power or control.  Rom 6:11, 8:2, Gal 5:16-18, 2 Pet 1:3-4
• Like deer shot thru the heart & lungs continue to run until the last nerve is stilled, flesh also is dealt with a death blow but it continues to fight. 

Our fleshly desire to sin lessens as we increasingly see God as He actually is & how we actually are. diagram

• God is not becoming MORE holy nor are you becoming MORE sinful, but your AWARENESS of both is growing. 
• honestly acknowledging sinfulness is a sign of spiritual maturity.

We are more sinful than we ever dared believe, yet more loved & accepted than we ever dared to hope at the same time.

• This truth causes joy, amazement, tears, and obedience.
• Obedience not our of duty, but out of an overflow from thanksgiving for what Jesus has done, is doing, & will do for me in spite of who I am.
• Charles Spurgeon & Timothy Keller quotes
• “The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.” — Timothy Keller

• “When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I beat my breast to think I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so and sought my good.” Charles Spurgeon
•  

When we minimize the Gospel or shrink the cross when we think of God as less holy than He is, or think of ourselves better than we really are. diagram

• The Bible is a story of God meeting us in our rebellion with His rescue; our failure with His victory; our guilt with His grace; our badness with His goodness.
• Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we need not fear seeing God as He really is or admitting how broken & sinful we really are.
• Our hope is not in our own goodness….”Law abiding”
• We rest in Christ as our perfect Redeemer…the One who is our righteousness & holiness. 1 Cor 1:27-30, Rom 8:1-4

The Gospel or the “good news” is the dynamic for all heart-change & life-change.

• Jesus purchased our right standing (justification/salvation) before God & He is our foundation for right living (sanctification) before God.  

• We need the Gospel day-by-day, hour-by-hour, as the instrument of God's power in our lives.
• Be relieved, encouraged, & empowered by Gospel daily.