93-27 – Do You Know Your Spiritual Birth Line? – What Every First-Century Christian Knew

In this scripture-packed series, Dr. Betters discusses regeneration, effectual calling, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance and glorification. Come along on this journey and find great joy in discovering many treasures in your journey along your spiritual birthline. Peter’s spiritual journey is a clear picture of a man intrigued by the Messiah, but not converted. In this message we watch as God removes Peter’s spiritual blindness. Peter’s journey helps us see our own spiritual birthlines unfold.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to In His Grip with Dr. Chuck F. Butters, produced by Marking Ministries. Each In His Grip message is designed to help turn your hearts toward Jesus and equip you to walk by faith. Let's join Dr. Butters as he preaches the series: Do You Know Your Spiritual Birth Line?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

What we have been talking about for the past few weeks is our spiritual birthright. As Christians, as believers, I hope this series has stirred you to think not only intellectually but experientially, to begin to understand the great doctrines of grace is a life-changing experience to understand the eternal love of God, the fact that he has loved you from the foundation of the world, that he has chosen you in Christ even before you were born, and has promised to glorify you in all eternity, and has come to give his life on the cross to secure that salvation so that the justice of a holy God could be satisfied, that the one who comes as the very Lamb of God takes our sins away and grafts us into his family, adopts us as his children, bringing us to understand faith and repentance so that we might be converted. And then promises, either by faith or by force, to conform us to the image of Christ, to bring us one day as a bride before him, spotless, without any wrinkles or blemishes. And that process of sanctification begins when you come to understand who you are in Jesus Christ. The principle we have been trying to outline for you concerning our sanctification is simple, yet it's profound. Simply stated, personhood precedes power. You cannot stand against temptation and gain victory in your Christian experience until you know who you are. Now, somehow or another, we need to get it through our heads that God, who has chosen us before the foundation of the world, did so in grace, effectually calls us in grace, regenerates us, so that we can come to understand what repentance in faith is all about, converts us by grace, adopts us by grace, seals us by grace, and the point that we've missed for so many years as Christians, many of us, is that he also sanctifies us by grace. Somehow or another, we think that the moment we're converted from that point on, it's all up to us. From that point on, it's just go ahead and wing it, go ahead and struggle through, find your existence. And we have begun to, I hope, make you comprehend or make you understand that your identity in Jesus Christ forms the backdrop of victory. You'll learn how to live spiritually, you'll learn how to enjoy spiritual power when you discover this identity that you have in Jesus Christ. Now, one of the things we've tried to do is we've tried to convey to you that the identity we have in Jesus Christ has been somewhat clouded and confused over the years by different doctrines and different systems of theology. Not the least of which is a system of doctrine that says that after we become Christians, we continue to have an old nature. We continue to have this spiritual tension between two natures. The old nature, that is our Adamic nature, and the new nature, that is our nature in Jesus Christ. And we kind of sit in between there somewhere, day by day, facing these temptations, facing these trials, and this battle of the natures goes on. The old nature and the new nature struggle and war within. And whichever one we yield to, whichever one we submit ourselves to, gains the victory at that moment. So we talk about our carnal Christianity. The fact that we can be a spiritual Christian with Christ on the throne of our lives. But we can also be a carnal Christian with self on the throne of our lives. And one of the things I have tried to illustrate to you is that simply is not a biblical teaching. We are not two natures, we are one nature when we're converted. When we are united to the Spirit of the living God, we become new creatures in Christ. The old has passed away, the new has come, we are buried with Christ, we are crucified with Christ. There is no longer another nature warring against us. You say, well, then why do I sin? Because we still live in this unredeemed, corruptible flesh, which one day will be buried and put into the tomb, and then when Christ comes again, that body will be brought out of the grave and glorified like unto the body of Christ and united with the glorified spirit that you already possess. If you were to die five minutes from now, you in Christ are found worthy of eternal life. That's an amazing thought. So the body has absolutely nothing to do with the real identity that you have in Jesus Christ. The real you, the real spiritual you has been joined to the Holy Spirit. Your spirit and his spirit become one spirit, and when you come to understand that identity, you have taken the first step toward gaining spiritual power. I've been doing a lot of study recently on life in the first century church. It's an amazing thing when you really sit down and begin to explore what the scriptures say about these first century Christians. We want to return to the days of the apostles. Do you really? Do you really want the church to return to the days of the apostles? Well, let me tell you a few things that we would no longer have if we returned to the days of the apostles. One thing we would not have is peace. When you lived in the first century church as a Christian, your life was on the line. Is your life on the line? Another thing they didn't have in the first century church was buildings. They didn't come together in brick and mortar buildings as we do. They didn't have the wonderful tools that we have available to us, the wonderful gifts that God has given to a 20th century church. But one thing they did have in the first century church was an understanding of who they were. They never lost track of that. You know, it's interesting in mainline China there are no church buildings. None. Yet there are 30 to 50 million Christians meeting in house churches in mainland China today. 30 to 50 million, 30 is a conservative estimate. 30 to 50 million Bible-believing Christians in mainline China. Let me ask you a question. How is it that we in the Western civilization are now gearing up as we see some indication that the walls in China that have been closed to missionaries are going to start coming down? Some indication now we're lining up in Western Christianity because we're going to go over there and show them how to do it. The wife of Del Berkey, who wrote a book called The House Church, visited one of these house churches in mainland China. She walked through a back alley and was taken by her escort up to the third floor apartment where 25 to 30 Christians were meeting in the upper room. The pastor of that church had already been arrested and imprisoned twice. Once for two years, once for 20 years, and was now expected to be arrested for the third time. And she could not get over the smiles and the contentment and the joy written all over the faces of these people who had no buildings to meet in. These people who have no peace and security in their faith, who live every day in the prospect that they could experience the loss of their freedom at any moment simply from being a Christian. That sounds more to me like what first century Christianity was all about, doesn't it? There were some things that these first century Christians knew that gave them spiritual power to overcome the kinds of temptations that we daily yield to. We are spiritually fat, spiritually lazy, spiritually compromised. We have developed in our own understanding of the Christian faith a religious cushion. We are committed to very little, willing to die for nothing, and yet we call ourselves believers. We say we love Jesus, and yet we cannot stand against even the smallest, minutest of temptations. We yield at the drop of a hat. Our theme verse is 1 John 1 9. We talk about that we are sinners, that we are beggars, and we walk in this spiritual depression all the time. We're laying on the ground spiritually all the time, barely able to raise our heads. And when faced with any kind of temptation or trial, we yield at the drop of a hat. We give in. We say, who can stand against such things? And yet we want, on the other hand, to return to first century Christianity. You know, as I read the accounts of the first century church, these people knew something that we need to understand if we're ever going to have the kind of power that they had. And at the top of the list is their identity in Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 6, I hope you have it. I want you to note verse 12. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Kind of tuck that away right now. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. That's the flesh. That's this unredeemed, corruptible flesh that has been conditioned by its adamic nature to sin and to lust after the deeds of the flesh, according to Galatians 5. Now go over to chapter 8 and verse 12 and look at something else. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. It is not to the flesh, that's what he's referring to. That's what the word sinful nature is. Not to the sarks, not to the flesh. But we do have an obligation. Now, both of those verses are telling us that we are going to have to stand against flesh, that it's going to war against the real me, the real person that I am in Christ. But don't pass over those verses too quickly. Go back to that Romans 6 verse for a second. We just read in verse 12, therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. But notice what he says before that. In the same way, verse 11, count yourselves dead, dead, not dying, not almost dead, not buried alive, count yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Notice what he says after that in verses 13 and 14. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves. Notice the distinction, the parts of your body. In contrast to yourselves, your real identity is in opposition to the parts of your body, the flesh, the spirit, war against each other. But notice something here. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. Notice the distinction. You're either dead or you're alive. There's not death and life and dying. You're either dead or you're alive. And offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. Now watch this. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under the law, but under grace. You in Christ, the real you is the master. The parts of the body is the slave. So why do we sin? Because the slave becomes the master. And the master becomes the slave. And the roles are reversed. Same thoughts over in Romans chapter 8. Remember, we read verse 12. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sarks to the flesh, it's to live according to it. But notice what he says in verses 9 through 11. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature or the flesh, but by the spirit. If the spirit of God lives in you, and if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is what? Dead. Dead because of sin. Yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who lives in you. But then notice what he says after that in verses 13 and following. For if you live according to the sinful nature or flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. Again and again and again, Paul seeks to make us aware that victory is always preceded by an awareness of who we are in Christ. Yet I got to tell you something. That awareness of who you are in Christ, simply knowing it is not enough. It simply enables us to take the next step in overcoming sin in our lives. You see, God desires that you know Him much fuller every day of your life. Every day when you wake up, God's desire is that you know him more that day than you did the day before. That you know who you are, that you know who he is. His desire is that we take the focus off of what we are and see what we can be when brought into an understanding of who he is. Discovering your identity in Christ is the first step. But a crucial one. Without that first step, you will flounder in self-pity, you will live defeated Christianity, you will revert to what the definition of sin for an unregenerate man is. You'll look to fill the voids in your life with the deeds of the flesh, the vacuum for meaning. You'll seek to fill it with all sorts of other things that will fall short, as Ecclesiastes tells us. You'll fill your life with the deeds of the flesh as an unregenerate man did in a vain effort to fill the vacuums left by your allegiance to the fallen Adamic nature. Very simply stated, it goes like this sin for the Christian is the avoidable failure for the Christian to fulfill the purpose for which he exists. The avoidable failure for the Christian to fulfill the purpose for which you exist. Every time you sin as a Christian, it's avoidable. When you're in your unregenerate state, before you come to understand the gospel of Christ, when you're still a lost man, it's not avoidable, it's unavoidable because you're living under the Adamic curse. You are by nature a sinner. But now when you come to Christ, you are by nature a child of God. So then why do we sin? We sin avoidably because we fail to fulfill the purpose for which we were intended. You see, this is in sharp contrast to the lost man who simply acts in response to his nature because he cannot please God. Sin for him is only conformity to the nature that comprises him. Let me give you an example. Take a temptation that you have to commit a sin. Maybe stealing a $10 bill from someone or gossiping about someone who. Received the praise that you expected to receive? Or maybe a sexual temptation that just about all of you face? Why do we succumb? Is it because we have this old sinister nature at war raising its ugly head? Is it this old crucified but not quite dead nature fighting against the Holy Spirit within me? No, friends, that's not what it is. The reason we succumb to temptation is because at the moment of that temptation we feel threatened. Either consciously or subconsciously, in terms of whatever we thought made living significant. Meaning becomes wrapped up in a what stomach full of ice cream or a sense of moral justification over another's reputation, or a moment of cheap sexual pleasure. We think we'll discover meaning there. But you see, what the scripture's telling you as a believer is that's not the real you. That's not the spiritual you that's been united to Christ. That's the flesh, that's the slave. That is not spiritual life, it is the unredeemed and corrupted flesh yearning for a purpose that has already been discovered in the new life that we have in Christ. At that moment when we yield, we experience a memory lapse of what happened and more specifically what happened to us when we came to Christ. And the flesh steps out of its role as slave and becomes master. And just in that moment, we think that's where we'll find fulfillment, that's where we'll find meaning. You see, Peter caught this. Mark this verse down, you don't have to turn to it, but listen to what he says. He talks about the qualities of a godly man in his second letter, the first chapter. He says, This is the quality of godliness in Christ. If you're a godly person, these are the qualities. But then he says, Well, what happens when you don't display those qualities? 2 Peter 1 9 says, But if anyone does not have them, that is these godly qualities. He is, listen, nearsighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. What's Peter talking about? The memory lapse of who you are, the slave becoming the master. Usually we become gripped with the obsession to sin when some other more respectable or righteous fulfillment in life is being frustrated. Let me give you an example. Take a relationship or an accomplishment that should have taken place by now. You should have come to accomplish something by now, or a disappointment. Something happens there to hits you. Or some sort of expectation of what we should have been. By the way, this is just an aside. I believe when you come to understand what I'm talking about here, you'll understand why pornography is so addictive. Those of you who are involved in pornography and you know who you are. Those of you who sit there and read those magazines and look at those pictures and watch those movies and commit all of those secret sins that you don't think anybody else knows about. Let me tell you what's happening to you right there. You have an expectation in your mind that you're going to find fulfillment and meaning in that kind of cheap thrill, and that's why it never ever satisfies. That's why you can never ever get enough of pornography. That's why you can never ever get enough of these kinds of addictive materials. You know why? Because they are appealing to the very lowest essence of what and who you are, and they can never satisfy. If what I believe that momentary urge will give me is a much deserved sense of satisfaction that will bring some sense to my life, I'll grab it. You see. Since my wife is not, and you fill in the blank. Since she isn't this or he isn't that, since she is not or he is not meeting this particular need in my life, then I now have the right, because I deserve fulfillment and meaning and purpose. I have the right to pursue that affair. We convince ourselves of that. Or the right person flatters me. You see, I have this craving to be praised, I have this longing to have somebody pat me on the back and flatter me. And since somebody else that's supposed to do that doesn't do that, then I reason with myself that I have the right to listen to the flattery of another. And this little mini vacuum is being filled. And what am I doing? Setting myself up for the affair. That's why in the book of Proverbs it speaks again and again and again of flattery as something to be avoided. Why? Because it is a basic craving that we have to be praised, and the only praise that will fill any vacuum in your life is when God is pleased with you. So I reason. Or maybe I need some financial resources to have the affair. Or maybe some sort of emotional justification, such as, well, we never should have gotten married in the first place. Do you know how often I hear that? I hear that many, many times. People come into their marriages and they look back and they say, we've not gotten anywhere, we've not accomplished anything, we've not become anything, therefore, they reason with themselves, they never should have gotten married in the first place. And in some cases, that may have some legitimacy to it. But let me tell you something. Without adultery or desertion by a non-believer, it doesn't matter whether or not you should have or shouldn't have gotten married. The fact is you are married, and God expects you to perform in that marriage in a way that demonstrates the relationship that He has with His church. And you can't use the excuse, I shouldn't have gotten married. It won't cut it. You see, you're looking for that emotional vacuum, you're looking for that emotional building, if you will, to fill the meaning in your life. And it's staring you right in the face, and you can't even see it. That's why the scripture tells us in Proverbs 5 you've got a problem with this man, you got a problem with this woman. Go back to the wife of your youth. What does he say? Got a problem? You shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. Go get a divorce. That's what he says, right? Go have an affair, right? You know what he says about the affair? She takes hold of you, and her steps lead to hell. You'll lose your honor, you'll lose your manhood, you'll be disgraced in the assembly of God. You'll lose your resources. But you don't understand we're incompatible. Well, I gotta tell you something. Take a look in the mirror, you might be incompatible. You might not be the pleasant person to live with. You don't have basis for divorce. You need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and you need to say, who is that person? Is that person one who's been united with Jesus Christ? Then meaning and fulfillment is going to be found in yielding and in allegiance to him. You see, you may say to yourself, and I heard somebody say this recently, the reason I'm having this affair is because this woman is meeting the needs that I have begged and begged and begged my wife to meet for years. And since she has refused to meet those needs, and I feel I have a right to have those needs met, I am going to go and have this affair because that woman will meet my needs. And what you're doing is reversing the role in an attempt to fill that vacuum meaning. And you're going to lose every time. If I cannot lay my hands on the lust, then I'll resort to fantasy. And for those few seductive moments, I can forget the real world, and my fantasies can be fed, and I can push aside my frustrations and my emptiness and my broken plans and my broken dreams. After all, I have the right. No, you don't. I want you to turn over to 2 Peter 1.10. Peter frames this verse. He says, For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what he's saying? He's saying what I've been saying for a few weeks now. Personhood precedes power. If anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted. He is blind. He has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. But then he continues. He says, Therefore, my brothers, 2 Peter 1.10, therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. Isn't that an interesting statement? Make your calling and election sure. You see, when he refers to your calling and your election and the fact that you need to make sure of it, he is not talking about you doing something in order to gain assurance of your salvation. He is saying, rest in this truth. You have been called, you have been elected. Let that calling and that election become the foundation and basis for you to increase every day in godliness. Let your identity, your calling, and your election be the first step in victorious Christian living. And I gotta tell you something, every first-century Christian knew that truth. That's why Stephen could stand there while he was being martyred. He knew who he was in Christ. That's why Paul could say, For me to live as Christ and to die is gain. Read the catalog of suffering in 2 Corinthians 11 that he went through. Read it and ask yourself, do I want to return to that kind of first century Christianity? Is this what I want to do? Read the list of what this man went through and ask yourself, do I want to be that kind of a Christian? Every first century Christian knew his identity. Let me give you a second point. If you're going to have a sense of holiness, holiness requires, listen, the active, the active participation of your will. Although personhood precedes power, that's only the first step. The will has got to be engaged. You say, wait a minute, I didn't think I had a free will. We are free moral agents, friends. We make choices every day. A non-Christian can make a choice to do good things. When we say we do not have a free will, we mean that we do not have innate in us the ability to choose salvation apart from divine intervention. We cannot will ourselves to be saved. We do not choose Christ. Christ chooses us. But when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, God fills us with His Holy Spirit, and now the will that once was depraved has been renewed. We have been joined with the Spirit of God, and now every day we face moral choices, and in our true identity, we have the ability to stand and we have the will to fall. And we make those choices every single day of our lives. What's the fundamental concept I've been outlining? The real you as a believer is in perfect agreement with the will of God. Perfect agreement. Every ought is in complete conformity with every want. That's the real you. Every Christian is never at odds with God in your true nature, in your true identity and your true personhood in Christ. But it's the flesh that keeps reminding us that we still live in unredeemed and corrupted flesh. You see, the reason we sin is because a Christian can become so weak and so spiritually undernourished and so ignorant that the flesh level of his personhood, which is supposed to be his slave, rises up to be his master, and that is because you will it. The slave has no power unless you will it. You can deny it or you can will it, but the real you has absolute power over the flesh, but the will must be engaged. So when you sin, who's the blame? The flesh? Is the slave the blame? The slave is simply trying to fill the vacuum of identity in meeting with the deeds of the flesh. As flesh rushes in to fill the meaning vacuum, we begin to conclude that we actually want to sin. We say to ourselves, well, I really want to do this, and that this represents actually who we are, forgiven sinners who love to sin. I want you to think about how stupid that is. Forgiven sinners who love to sin. It doesn't make any sense, does it? How can we be forgiven sinners who love to sin? And so we say, well, we need to fight against the odds of scripture, where the scripture says you ought to do this and you ought to do that, and lays out for us a guideline for holiness. And we reason to ourselves that what the scripture says we ought to do, our once rise up and say just the opposite. That's not true. We conclude that if we're going to do God's will, we have to go against our own will. And that's not true. To say yes to God is to say no to me, and we become plagued with guilt and overwhelmed as to what it really means to be a Christian. Sacrifice is the order of the day. I must lay down my life for him, give up what I want, and torture myself with an inescapable sense of spiritual unworthiness. But you say, Well, Pastor, doesn't the Bible teach us that we are to deny ourselves? Yes, but what does it mean? Self. What does it mean? Self. If by that you mean the flesh that seeks to master the real you, then the answer is yes. But if by self you mean your inner spirit, the real you, then there's no need to deny it because it is in perfect harmony with the will of God. That is what the real you desires as a Christian, is what God desires. Can there be a more liberating thought than that? Why is this true? Well, because Galatians 2.20 says, I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. But you see, mere knowledge of who you are is only the first step. We've got to actively engage the will. But even that's not enough. We must experience the very power of God. I want you to turn over to Ephesians chapter 3. There's a prayer there. And I want to outline this prayer for you because I want to show you how this all works together. A remarkable prayer that defines the pursuit of holiness. Simply knowing who you are is not enough. Simply engaging your will is not enough. There needs to be something else. Now, watch how he works this out, Ephesians 3, verse 14. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its what? Its name. What's he talking about here? My identity. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit where? In your inner being. That's the real you. Notice when Paul begins to frame his understanding of holiness, he begins where we've begun. Personhood precedes power. What name do you possess? Who is the real you? That inner being that's been joined to the Spirit of God. But notice the unconditional lordship and his understanding of who is Lord here. He says, He begins with, I bow my knees before the Father, and he ends with, To him be the glory, doesn't he? And in between, he focuses on the indwelling aspect of the Spirit of God. What is Paul saying here? Jesus Christ is my Lord. He is my Lord. Every first century Christian knew that you could not have Jesus as Savior without also having Jesus as Lord. Jesus is your Savior and your Lord. And your inner being, the real you, is under his Lordship. But then notice verse 17. So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you will be rooted and established in love. That's referencing the Holy Spirit. How does Christ dwell in your hearts? But by the Holy Spirit. Now a third ingredient has been added. Identity in Christ, the engagement of my will, and now a third ingredient. Power by the Holy Spirit. Power by the Holy Spirit. And yes, there's even a fourth ingredient in verse 18. That we may have power together with all the saints. To grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God. You see, in verses 19 through 21, he says, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. There's the engagement of your will. Amen. You see how Paul frames his understanding of holiness? Who you are in Christ, the engagement of your will, the power of the Holy Spirit, accountability to the rest of the body. These ingredients together comprise the power. And without any one of them actively engaged, you'll fall on your face every time. Let me give you an illustration. Suppose you go out and you buy yourself a brand new Corvette. I saw a few of your heads perk up there. Young guys, especially, some of you 40 to 45 guys going through your midlife crisis, too. I saw your heads poke up. You go and you buy this brand new sparkling clean convertible. Let's make it a convertible. Corvette. There it's parked out in the driveway. Now let me ask you a question. What is the purpose of that car or any car? The purpose of a car is what? To move. That's the purpose of the car. Now the car can sit in the driveway, and you can go out every morning and you can say, man, I'm gonna sit in this car and turn on the wipers. And you sit there and you turn on the wipers. You say, man, those wipers work good. Turn them off, turn the radio on. Great radio. Quadraphonic sound CD player. You even put your flashers on. Say, man, look at those lights. And you blow the horn. Man, doesn't that sound good? But I gotta tell you something. Horns and wipers and flashers and radios are not what that car was intended to do. That car is intended to what? Move. That's what a lot of Christians live like. They go out into the driveway every morning. They start the car up. They sit there parked in idle and turn the radio on. Sometimes they don't even start the car, they just go out and listen to the radio. And listen to the radio and watch the flashers and watch the wipers, and the car never budges out of the driveway. And eventually the battery in the car goes dead and the car will not start. You see, the battery has to be engaged in order for the car to start. In order to energize the car to do what it was intended to do. But let me tell you something. A dead battery does not in any way alter or change the intended purpose and the basic stuff that that car is made up of. That car can sit there for months in the driveway and never move, but it is still a car and it is still designed to move. Well, one day the car is started up and driven a few inches, two, three inches, and then it's parked and left idling. You get out of the car and you go into the house. You say, Ma, I moved a few inches. And the car sits out there and runs and runs and runs. And eventually what happens? It runs out of gas. Is it still a car? It's still a car. It's still intended to move. Eventually the car runs out of gas and it sits there. Is the basic nature of the car changed? Is it still a car designed to run? You see, what's needed is for all three ingredients to work together. The intended purpose of the car, the battery being engaged, and the tank being filled with gasoline, and all three of those must be engaged together. And then you've got to take your will and pull down the lever and back the thing out of the driveway and run it. You see, you've got to turn on the ignition. That's what Paul says in Philippians 2. He says, Therefore, my friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his pleasure. You see, that battery and that fuel and that car and the active engagement of the driver makes the intended purpose of the vehicle realized. The real you and the active engagement of your will and the power of God's anointing in the Holy Spirit. All three must be engaged in order for you to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And as a believer, as a believer, when one of those ingredients is missing, the intended purpose still remains intact. The real you is still joined unto Christ. Occasionally, the car needs a jump start, doesn't it? Occasionally, so do we. You know how God jump starts the believer? One word discipline. Discipline. Paul says in Romans 5, not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. Hebrews 12 says, because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. Did you catch that? Discipline is for the purpose of allowing us to share in the holiness of God. What does James say? Discipline comes so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Some of us need a jump start. But you see where it all begins? It all begins with my intended purpose. That Corvette sitting in a driveway is intended to move. And nothing you do can ever change that. You can play with it, you can look at it, you can admire it, you can show it off to your friends, but until the car moves, it does not fulfill its intended purpose. Likewise, you as a believer were not meant to sit parked in the driveway. You are meant to be an ecclesia. The called out ones, that's where we get the word church from. We are called out and we are called unto. The church is to be a fluid organization. We are to be on the move. And when we discover that principle of personhood and understand the function of the flesh is to submit to the spirit. And the function of the spirit is to be renewed day by day by the Holy Spirit who fills me. And then we engage the battery by an act of will, and we trust the Spirit of God to say no to that flesh. Go ahead and scream, flesh. Go ahead and protest. Go ahead and object. Go ahead and stand against me. Go ahead and moan and groan. You do whatever you desire. But you are my slave and you will serve me because I am serving Christ. And every day when you're faced with those temptations, saying no to the flesh is an act of the will. But don't miss this point. You've missed this point, you've missed everything I've had to say. Even in the engagement of that will, there is the grace of God. You cannot engage the will apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. Going back to our little Corvette, it can have a brand new battery, but if there's no gas in the tank, it's not going to start. Ephesians 5 18 says, keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Keep on being empowered, trusting the Spirit of God. Now, where is that spirit? In your spirit. His spirit and your spirit have become one spirit. Can there be any greater victory than that? Do you know of any greater victory than that? You see, these early Christians knew their identity in Christ, the engagement of the will as a necessary ingredient, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And I think in that sense, in that sense only, we do desire to return to what it was in the first century church. Moment by moment by moment, being filled, controlled, empowered by the Holy Spirit, who gives us grace to stand. Would you stand with me and join hands with those around you? Let's close together in prayer. Then we'll sing the chorus, Oh, how he loves you and me. Pray with me together. Father, in and of ourselves, we are absolutely powerless. That is why we need your Holy Spirit. The flesh, the old nature, all corrupt, all wicked and evil. But thank you, Lord, that you put to death the old nature. Thank you, Lord, that you have given us new natures, that we are new creatures in Christ, yet we remain in this fallen flesh. But Lord, you've given us this flesh to serve us. And it can be used to bring honor and glory to you. We've seen that already this morning. We've seen how you've used the physical abilities of many people to bring us into direct contact with you in worship. We've seen when the flesh serves the spirit that we can have victory. But Lord, all too often many of us have seen that when the spirit serves the flesh, we fall. That meaning vacuum is never filled, we yield. Help us, Lord, to live in that power. The power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us. The real us. If there's one standing here today who has never come to faith in Christ, speak to their heart right now, Lord. Touch them right where they are and minister to their needs. May they yield in faith and obedience to you, calling on you to save them and to forgive them from all their sins. Uniting them with your spirit so that they too may gain victory. Bless us now, Lord, as we go to our separate homes and whatever we do this afternoon, and then as we come back here this evening, bless us. Bless those who will minister to us. Lord, this day belongs to you. Help us to use it wisely. May the grace of God, the love of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus the Christ, the very presence, person, and power of His Holy Spirit abide with each of you now until Christ comes again and forevermore.

unknown 1:00:59

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:01

You have been listening to In His Grip, featuring the preaching and teaching ministry of Dr. Chuck F. Betters and produced by Mark H Ministries. Mark H Ministries exists to offer help and hope to hurting people by pointing them to the promises of God and the comfort of his work. Through In His Grip, ask Dr. Betters, Feeling Treasure, and Help and Hope, we provide free, face-based resources for those walking through suffering, grief, confusion, and seasons of easy need. To learn more about Dr. Betters, explore our resources or contact us, visit M-A-R-K-M-C.org. May you rest today in the assurance that God can be trusted even when you do not understand his claim.