Emmaus - Sanctifying Grace
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Sanctifying Grace
Sanctifying Grace
►►►CLICK [Betty White Snickers Commercial]
►►►CLICK [Intro]
My name is Chris Gadlage, and this talk is about Sanctifying Grace
►►►CLICK [Review]
Grace is Grace…God doesn’t make distinctions between the workings of grace. We make those distinctions to help us understand.
_________ – Prevenient
_________ – Justifying
►►►CLICK [Wesley’s house]
Wesley compared the working of God’s grace to a house:
If you look at this house diagram, imagine what this house may look like.
►►►CLICK [Porch - Prevenient]
This beautiful wrap-around porch, just calls to you to come “sit a spell”. That’s like Prevenient Grace calls you to come closer to God. It’s inviting and so welcoming. Imagine sitting on this porch with a class of sweet tea, and God’s arm wrapped around you as He whispers sweet nothings in your ear.
►►►CLICK [Justifying]
If the porch is Prevenient Grace, Wesley suggest the entry way is God’s Justifying Grace. Imagine the rich mahogany wood and maybe even leaded glass in this gorgeous entryway. In Prevenient Grace, we’re being wooed by God’s grace. In Justifying Grace, God is carrying us over the threshold into saving faith and into His Kingdom.
But Wesley argued that too many people, in his words, “get stuck in the door.” Because God’s grace doesn’t just want to invite us on the porch. He doesn’t want us to just walk through the door. God’s grace wants so much more for us.
►►►CLICK [Sanctifying]
That’s because the ultimate action of God’s grace is to give us the entire house! We sell God’s grace short when we talk just about salvation or forgiveness. He wants to do far more than that.
►►►CLICK [Painting]
Genesis 2 – We were created in the image of God (Imago Dei) Beautiful painting
Genesis 3 – Adam & Eve mess it up for us – while the paint still wet, Satan smudged us
►►►CLICK [Smudged]
Acts 2:22-38 – God calls us to restoration
Grace of His Holy Spirit through death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus was not sent just to woo you, or just to save you…
►►►CLICK [Restored]
He was sent to restore the image of God in you!!
She was born broken – SVAS
Dead – heart stopped/bypass
Perfect – Dr. Boone “There’s nothing to tell the insurance company, she’s perfect.”
Heart Surgery – Psalm 57:7 “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.”
►►►CLICK [Restoring the image]
Restoring the image of God … the painting cannot restore itself!
God has to do all the work for us!
Romans 5:6 - He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. [MSG – Paraphrase!]
He IS the One doing the work of restoration!
My family was talking about grace’s work in our lives … my young son Isaiah said, “Oh, like the Snickers commercial. You’re not you without grace.”
►►►CLICK [continued...]
Receiving God’s spirit is like recovery of health after an illness
Recognizing we’re sick – Prevenient
Going to the Doctor – Justifying
Becoming actively involved in your Church is like going to get the prescription filled
Taking the antibiotic – Sanctifying
Until we take the antibiotic, we’re not going to get well!
Our illness is sin, and we’ve been delivered from the power of sin
(sozo σῴζω – heal/save)
Recovery is the process of restoring God’s image in us
Where Justification takes away the FUTURE ramifications of our sin ..
Sanctification deals with the PRESENT state of sin!
It’s like the Snickers commercial: You’re not you without the grace of God!
►►►CLICK [Imparting newness]
Imparting newness
Guilty in Prevenient---in need of God
Not Guilty in Justification
Holy in Sanctification
Sanctification deals with the PRESENT state of sin!
The Snickers commercial. You’re not you without the grace of God!
►►►CLICK [continued...]
In Sanctifying Grace, we are Day by day becoming more like Him
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
[Scott telling Dad to shut up at the ball field.]
Dad stopped because he discovered his shouting embarrassed his son.
Sanctifying grace empowers you to stop sinning because you realize it embarrasses your God …
and far worse!
►►►CLICK [Perfecting]
Conversion – Paul says to work out your salvation with fear and trembling in Phil. 2:12
Holy Spirit gives gifts - 1Corinthians 12
Fruit of the Spirit “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
Christian Perfection?
This is the ultimate goal. Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Christian Perfection is not mistakelessness
Greek word translates “complete” – fully mature
►►►CLICK [Annette]
Flowers for Annette - the “daisy story”
►►►CLICK [Equipping]
Equipping us for work
Sheep and Goats
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Faith without Works
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Great Command and Commission
37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
►►►CLICK [Ripening Us for Glory]
For 3 days, we have prayed for the Holy Spirit to come and fill us with the fire of his love.
What have we learned?
God calls us to relationship - prevenient
God enables us to have a relationship – justifying
God makes us holy – sanctifying
This is not possible by yourself!
Jesus ministered to thousands and thousands, but even Jesus had a small group!
Small groups are an important way for God to work sanctifying grace in a disciple’s life.
In the Emmaus Community, we call these small groups “Reunion Groups” or “Group Reunions”
We meet with a small group, and we follow the order on reunion cards. Those are on your tables. Let’s look at these cards just a minute!
►►►CLICK [Reunion Cards]
Someone else will go over these cards in more depth later.
I just want to point out the three sections on these cards:
Piety: Are you living a holy life?
Study: Are you spending personal time alone with God and in-depth study time learning about Him
Action: Are you serving God’s children?
Only the Holy Spirit can light the fire of God’s love in us, but without some form of accountability, you are a coal outside the flames. You’ll quickly cool and grace will become a distant memory!
Tom Mills was a Canadian blogger back in 2006, and he wrote the following:
“I heard a great message this morning. The basic content was that we are called to be perfect because our heavenly Father is perfect. Now there is a lot of explaining that would be necessary to get everything out of that phrase that we could, but the reality is that we do our best to explain it away. However, there is nothing in the command that gives us that latitude.” (http://tommills.wordpress.com/ - November, 2006)
Recorded in God’s Word
Jesus demands us to be made perfect in love.
Through His Holy Spirit and the work of Sanctifying Grace in our lives,
He makes perfection in love possible!
So I leave you with that charge from Matthew’s Gospel:
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect!”
►►►CLICK [De Colores]
DE COLORES!
