Be Transformed

Thank you music team. Well done this morning.

Well, good morning Church! Good morning to those of you joining on the LIVE stream. We are glad you can be with us this morning.

Introduction

Well if you have been with us then you know we are in the midst of a series we are simply calling DISCIPLE where we are delving into what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to engage in the disciple making process.

Now I want to say that the message this morning is a bit…how shall I say, all over the place! And I have said it already but it bears repeating that this subject matter of Discipleship is enormous. And I have no doubt that I could preach about this until Jesus comes back and never come close to exhausting all there is to say about it. So I am trying to tie some bows around a lot of stuff that quite frankly is just the tip of the iceberg as they say.

Pastor Sean and I have been talking about how we can best equip those of you who want to take seriously your discipleship journey and we will be dialogueing with the other elders about how best to do that, because the truth is, I will never plumb the depths of this once a week from the pulpit, and we realize we have been asking you to engage in something, the disciple making process, that perhaps many of you have no idea how or where to begin. It is the reason I began this series and I hope these messages are giving you a good 30 thousand foot view or idea of what discipleship means. But our conviction that we all go deeper and see just what God will do with a group of people who are truly committed to arranging their lives in such a way that discipleship to Jesus Christ and becoming more like Him is our priority.

But here is what I want to say to you this morning with as much sincerity as I can muster.

A commitment to becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, is THE most important and blessed thing you will ever do in your life, hands down. And in all honesty and transparency, I must also say it will be the most difficult thing you will ever do. But the reward is incredible.

I was lamenting to Donna this morning how I wish I would have made a more serious commitment to it sooner in life than I did. I have been a born again believer for a long long time but my apprenticeship to Jesus, in many ways, has just recently begun and Ohh how difficult and good it is!

Step number one is to commit to becoming a disciple yourself. To endeavor to do whatever it takes to become an apprentice of Jesus.

I have said a few times now that one of the most obvious difficulties in becoming a disciple Of Jesus is that Jesus is no longer physically present in the world. But when He left He sent a Helper, another just like Him, the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. We also have the scriptures AND because the veil of separation was taken out of the way at Jesus death, we now have direct access to the throne of God.

If this is the first time you are hearing these things and you are wondering, what in the world is he talking about, then I or any of the other pastor/elders would love to talk to you about these things. Look one of us up after the service and we can set a time.

So far, in this series we have talked about how we go about spending time with Jesus given that He is no longer physically present. It involves leaning into the Spirit of God, reading scripture which tells God’s story of creation and redemption, and prayer. But quite frankly there is more to it than that. It also requires that we take intentional steps to SLOW DOWN and take a serious and honest look at how we are spending our time, and to cut out more than we add in. Spending time with Jesus should not be another thing you add to your already unrealistically busy schedule. It should in fact, be a replacement for MANY of the other things you are currently doing with your day.

When Jesus said, “Come Follow Me” he was saying there are some things we must all leave behind. Take up your cross was a way of saying that some sacrifice will be required if we want to be His apprentice. There are things we must die to, things we must let go of.

So we have spent the first 6 weeks talking about how we spend time with or be with Jesus. There is a good chance that saying yes to that will require you saying no to several other things. Why? Because the days are only so long and considering that fact that we have to sleep for part of it, it doesn’t take long to figure out that we cannot just keep adding. At some point we have to subtract.

I have stated that my goal is that when we are done, there should be no doubt in the minds of those who have made an effort to be with us through this series, no doubt about what a disciple is, WHO we are called to be disciples of, and HOW we engage in the Disciple making process, both for ourselves and for those around you.

And it is important to understand that everything we have been talking about in this series…the importance of counting the cost involved in being an apprentice to Jesus Christ, the necessity of “Beholding” the ONE to whom we intend to follow, that being of course the Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of personally answering the question Jesus asked His original disciples, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Who IS this Jesus we claim to follow? I warned of the danger of following a Jesus of our own making. The necessity of knowing where to find and spend time with Jesus who is no longer with us in the flesh. Making a habit of spending time with Jesus in the “blank spaces” of our day. Those moments standing in line at the grocery store, or sitting at a traffic light, where instead of pulling out our phone, we actually spend those moments contemplating Jesus and the things He has said to us. And last week we talked about seeking Him in every area and every part of your life.

Here is what I want to point out about all of that. ALL of that is stuff takes place THIS side of the narrow gate. As we walk on the difficult path that leads to the Kingdom. I will say more about that in a minute.

But it is important to note that whether or not you actually become a disciple of Jesus, become like Him and live your life doing as He did, that is, as we say around here, engage in the disciple-making process, not entirely , but more significantly than most of us realize, depends on you.

And unfortunately, not many professing Christians ever make it very far down the road of discipleship. So, what did I mean that all this stuff happens this side of the narrow gate. Well, in our consideration of the Gospel, we often reference the “narrow gate” of salvation...

Mat 7:14 ESV - 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

We often think of the gate of entry itself as narrow but we do not usually think of the path beyond that gate. Jesus says both the gate is narrow and the WAY is hard. It seems the path beyond the gate remains narrow so to speak. That path on this side of the gate is in fact where discipleship happens....or not. The evidence we have for this are the number of times Jesus seemed to make it clear that following Him would be difficult. I think we often have this idea that the gate of entry is narrow and that few pass though it. But then we imagine that the path beyond the gate widens back out. Scripture does not confirm that idea though. The gate is narrow and the path is difficult Jesus said. The path beyond the gate is where our spiritual transformation into people of love and life takes place. The big hundred dollar Bible word we use for this is sanctification.

I am going to come back to the narrow gate and the difficult way in a few minutes. I want to pause here and invite you to turn to Hebrews chapter 12.

In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1 we read...

Heb 12:1-2 ESV - 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Let me read a passage from one of AW Tozer’s writings... “All of us Christians have a common enemy, that old devil, Satan. As we stand together, pray together, worship together, we repudiate him and his deceptions. He is our common foe, and he uses a variety of manipulations to hinder us in our spiritual lives.

When by faith, we have entered this lifelong spiritual course, the Holy Spirit whispers “Do you truly want to be among the victors in this discipline?”

When we breathe our “Yes! Yes!” He whispers of ways that will aid us and carry us to certain victory.

The Spirit tells us to throw off everything that would hinder us in the race. He tells us to be aware of the little sins and errors that could divert us from the will of God as we run. But here is the important thing…He tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus because He alone is our pacesetter and victorious example”

End Quote.

In a very real sense, We said last week, faith is fixing our eyes on Jesus, keeping Jesus in full view regardless of what others may be doing all around us. I would add that belief, tru belief follows as we exercise faith in Him. Oh I have a LOT more to say about that but that is for another message another day.

For now, let’s go with that quote i gave you last week...“faith is the gaze of ones life upon a saving God”. This is excellent counsel, because as human beings we know we are not sufficient in ourselves. (It you haven’t yet learned that, or realize that, then, well, How can I say this without sounding critical?... I can’t. If you don’t know yet that we are not sufficient in ourselves then you are delusional.)

It is our nature to look out - to look beyond ourselves for help. This world is big and deadly, and we are too weak and not wise enough to deal with it.

It is also a human trait to look beyond ourselves for assurance. We hope to find someone worthy of trust. We want someone who has made good, someone who has done what we would like to do.

In that passage we just read, the writer of Hebrews points us to the Perfect One, our eternal High priest, Who is seated right now at the very right hand of God. He is Jesus, the pioneer, the author and finisher of our faith. He has endured the cross and now He is the eternal Victor AND our advocate in the Kingdom of God.

But there is a problem.

Simply looking at Jesus is not enough to transform us into His image. There are some things that we must do. Why? Because Christlikeness IS possible, but it is not natural.

Mat 7:14 ESV - 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Gonna chase a little rabbit here...

Something occurred to me this week as I was thinking about this narrow gate and difficult way that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7:14.

Over the years I have heard well-meaning evangelists say, “Let’s win our city for Jesus!” Or the even loftier request, “Let’s win the country for Jesus!”. Can I just say this is a very unrealistic goal. Why? What Did Jesus say? Few will find it. Not many. Not the majority. Few.

The vast majority of the population of any city has no interest in the narrow gate. They have heard the gospel but they love the world too much. Those who love the world do not love God. We might be able to reach a small number of the people of Lebanon but that’s all.

This verse means that the great majority of people will not respond to the gospel no matter how it is presented. All the evangelistic techniques and programs aren’t going to change this.

This verse means that a country with a large, allegedly “Christian” population has very few real Christians. That includes America. Only a few Americans are traveling through the narrow gate and along the difficult path.

This verse means the path Jesus has set out for you is challenging. The way of discipleship is at times, very hard. If you find yourself discouraged, dry, experiencing the dark night of the soul, persecuted, do not be surprised. That’s how the narrow way can be.

Just a side note here: Don’t be too discouraged. Even if only 1% of the world’s current population accept Christ and pass thought the narrow gate, that is 800 million people. Pretty big number and that is just 1% of the current global population.

And...since the gate is narrow you can’t take anything through it but yourself. You have to leave everything else behind. Remember the opening of the passage we began with in Hebrews? Right after talking about all the great people of faith we see in scripture. the writer of Hebrews says...

Heb 12:1 ESV - 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Not a good idea to try and carry things through the narrow gate with us. But listen to me. It is not about giving things up, it is about replacing things. It is about replacing all the things that are slowly killing us, with things that will restore truly abundant life to us!

So back to the “few” we read about in Matthew 7:14. It says few find “it” What is the IT? Well it is the gate AND the way. Jesus said the gate is narrow AND the way is difficult. Few find the gate and few find the way. Let me make this clear. The WAY is what we have been talking about. The WAY is in fact discipleship. The WAY is what Christians for centuries have been accused of following. And here is the thing. You cannot even see the WAY unless you have first entered through the gate of Jesus Christ. It is only through Christ and IN Christ that true discipleship can take place.

Now, one thing I hope I have made clear so far is that the disciple making process depends on you. Don’t take that as a contradiction to what I just said. Christ is always first. But once you are born again, whether or not discipleship to Christ happens, is up to you. It begins with your own discipleship with Jesus and out of that flows discipling others. Now. We have been calling you all to engage in the disciple-making process. That SOUNDS like we want you to disciple others, and we do. But lets not put the cart before the horse. What do I mean by that?

I said at it the beginning of this series and I cannot say it enough. We cannot disciple someone effectively until we have committed to BEING DISCIPLES and have traveled a ways down the difficult path ourselves. Until we have committed ourselves to the difficult path that leads to LIFE.

Now I am convinced that when we talk about the narrow gate we are most often thinking of salvation, that moment in time when we determine to follow Jesus. But that is not where it ends. That in fact, is where discipleship begins, or should I say, has the potential to begin. Because just like the gate, I believe that few are the ones who intentionally travel the narrow way that lies beyond the gate. In fact, I would say that if we were each to be honest with ourselves, we might have to admit that either we have not traveled far down the path, or we have carried a bunch of stuff through the gate with us that is hindering our journey and hindering or even stalling our apprenticeship to Jesus.

We must go through the narrow gate, but discipleship is all about the journey beyond the gate.

The title of this morning’s message is “Be Transformed” Maybe it should have been the “Narrow Gate and the Difficult Path” Because if all we ever do is walk through the gate of salvation, transformation will never take place, at least transformation into the image of Christ.

So as we move from spending time WITH Jesus into Becoming LIKE Jesus and doing the things Jesus did, I want to spend the time we have left, by opening the topic of formation and transformation and we will probably spend a couple weeks here.

Up to now we have been talking about ways that we can be WITH a Jesus that is no longer still here in the flesh. We are very blessed because when He left He sent us a Helper, the Holy Spirit who will help us do this. So as we begin to seek Him, the promise is we will find Him. And we find Him by listening to the Spirit that is within, and reading the Word, and spending time in contemplative prayer. All of these “practices” will help bring us into His presence. And it is as we do these things on a regular and consistent basis, that transformation begins. I am intentionally using the word TRANSformation rather then formation because the truth is, we are all formed, we are all being formed and, at the end of our life we will have BEEN formed. Our formation began the moment God began to knit us together in our Mother’s womb. And by the time we walk through the narrow gate, for most of us, a fair bit of formation has already taken place that will not serve us well this side of the gate. So what we really need is a transformation of what has already been formed. To transform is: to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character.

So how do we do that? Obviously we will need to heavily rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. But there are some very real and tangible things we must do as well in order for this transformation to take place and we will be looking into that over the next couple of weeks.

But before we get too far, I want to take us to Luke chapter 6 where we read Jesus is talking to His disciples about judging others and he warns about getting to full of ourselves and not being honest about where we are on our own journey of Spiritual formation.

The aim of a 1st century apprentice wasn’t just to learn the scriptures from a smart rabbi, it was to learn LIFE from someone who had become a master of it.

We see this in Jesus teaching here in Luke chapter 6 and V 40 when He says...

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

If we are disciples of Jesus Christ, then the ultimate goal, when “we are fully trained” we will be Like Him. According to Jesus words here, the point of being a disciple or an apprentice of His was to spend time WITH Him for the PURPOSE OF becoming LIKE Him.

If you and I are going to sign up to be apprentices of Him, then we will be required to arrange our lives around that goal, to become fully trained and to be like our teacher.

I am struck by How timeless jesus words were in Matthew 7:14. The Way is difficult and few find it. It is easy to see in the day and age in which we live, with all the distractions we have, that becoming an apprentice of Jesus is no easy task.

One sure sign that you are not really an apprentice of Jesus is that you are intentionally arranging your life around everything but Jesus, or that Jesus is just that one more thing you are trying to add to your already overloaded schedule.

Folks, when it comes to your spiritual formation, the question is not “are you being formed”. The question is, who or what are you being formed into.

As I said a few minutes ago, your spiritual formation began the moment God began to knit you together in your mothers womb. You were doing pretty good until you were born. From that moment your formation began to be influenced by a combination of your parents, your family, your education and the world around you.

Contrary to popular belief in Christian circles, spiritual transformation is not a Christian thing, it is a human thing. We are ALL being spiritually formed as we go through life. Whether we are religious or not, we grow and we change.

Who each of is is today, is the result of spiritual formation that has been going on for your whole life.

Scripture tells us that we are all born into this world in a fallen state, separated from God by sin. That means from the time of your birth until you were “born again” as Jesus put it to Nicodemus, your spiritual formation has been happening through a complex combination of genetics, family patterns,childhood wounds, education, habits, decisions made, relationships, attitudes, environments and responses to all of that, not the least of which are your own fleshly desires.

But, this side of the narrow gate, right out of the gate if you will, we are called to be TRANSformed. Changed from what we are now into something different. Not a fixed up renovated version of our current selves, but the Bible calls us to be transformed entirely into a new creation.

2Co 5:17 ESV - 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

This sounds like a done deal does it not. Well it is, we just have not realized it yet because we insist on carrying on as we always have. To do what we know best. To do what our current formation has crafted us to do. That is the thing that has to die. That is the thing that has to be replaced with the new person we have become in Christ.

The new has come. The new is available but in order for us to step into it we need to learn a new way of living. That is discipleship to Jesus is all about. But as I said earlier… Christlikeness IS possible, but it is not natural. It takes effort on our part paired with the supernatural abilities we now have IN CHRIST.

So beloved, the time has come. If you are on this side of the narrow gate, then you need to know that your spiritual formation is continuing and there is nothing you can do to stop it. But you can decide the path it will take from here on out.

And know this. Every thought you think, every emotion you allow in to shape your behavior, every attitude you adopt ad allow to remain, every decision you make, every word you speak, every relationship you enter into, the habits that make up your days, if and how you use social media, how you respond to pain and suffering, how you handle failure or success ---all these things and more are shaping us and forming us into a particular shape. You cannot stop it, but you can influence it by how you approach all of those things. and your spiritual transformation is either more towards Christlikeness or malformed by sin and death.

This side of the narrow gate, God has given you everything you need to live a life that is pleasing to Him. You decide if you will embrace what is yours in Christ.

Folks, here is the truth. At any given moment, with every though you have, with every word you speak, with every decision you make, you are either expanding the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of darkness. We become agents of God’s healing and liberating grace, or carriers of the sickness and brokenness of this world. To believe otherwise is an illusion and to give no thought to this is to come dangerously close to wasting your life.

Rom 12:2 ESV - 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.

2Co 3:18 ESV - 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Folks, the bottom line is. Becoming dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ is the catalyst by which transformation will occur in your life and in my life.

That old adage “let go and Let God” does not actually work.

You and I have a responsibility to to cooperate with God’s transforming grace. He will not force it on you.

A reminder of St. Augustine’s words...

Without God, we cannot.

Without us, God will not.

I think there are people sitting in churches all across America today, including this one, who are disillusioned over their lack of transformation into Christlikeness. If that describes you then I will tell the reason why. You have not yet learned YOUR part in spiritual formation. And here it is. it all comes down to this. Our job is not to save ourselves. Our job is simply to surrender. Surrender to Jesus and His ways. Exchange our ways for His ways.

Next week we will begin to unpack and define spiritual formation in the Way of Jesus. It is not the easy path. It starts with an honest assessment of yourself. How much distance have you actually put between the entry point of the narrow gate and where you currently stand? if you are like me, then maybe not as far as you would like to be. The next move is yours.

Let’s pray...