Seeking God, Not Checking a Box

Bettis starts off this chapter by giving an excerpt of The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis.

The final book in the Chronicles of Narnia series ends with these words…

"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands dead. The term is over; the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."

And as he spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Bettis shares about how through his childhood, teenage, and early college days… he seemed to continue to have doubts about his faith.

As he read through Lewis’ book, he says that God seemed to say to Him… “If not following Christ, how are you going to live?”

The delight of C.S. Lewis seemed to break through his heart.

He had no other way to live.

I’m sure many of us have had this same type of moment. I have mentioned about how for me, it was when I read through More than a Carpenter as a college kid that God seemed to really affirm in my life a lot of things to help me in my pursuit of him.

I think many of us have come across a time where by God’s grace, He showed us that THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO LIVE.

No matter the doubts, no matter our circumstances… my faith will dictate everything else… not the other way around.

At some point… we realized that THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO LIVE FOR IN GOD THE FATHER.

Disciple-Making Parents teach their children to continually seek the Lord.

Further Up and Further In.

This story of Bettis reflects a biblical teaching about our salvation…

A.W. Tozer expounds on this…

What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox. I want to see in them the joy of finding God while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him. I want to see in them the great joy of having God but always wanting more.

Scripture shows us that the way of the Christian life is being OBSESSED with pursuing God and His kingdom.

2 Peter 1:10 “10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

James 4:8 “8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Hebrews 11:6 “6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Amos 5:4 “4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;”

We don’t want to send the message to our children that once you have checked this box of salvation… then they are all set.

You have your fire insurance, you have your faith ( as if it’s some kind of accessory)

The biblical message rather is that your seeking of God just began. You have joined together with the saints of old in this life of seeking God and pursuing your salvation the rest of your days…

Your salvation is BOTH AN EVENT AND A PROCESS.

2 Peter 1:10 “10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

We are a people who are always pursuing, seeking, hungering for something…

If we do not seek His Kingdom, His righteousness, then we will always seek our own.

If we do not hunger and thirst for righteousness, we will hunger and thirst for something else.

THIS IS WHY YOU SEE THIS ACTIVE LANGUAGE in the writings of scripture that is paired with the writing about our salvation… we have been saved… and we are BEING SAVED day by day.

Salvation — that word salvation and the reality behind it — is the really big, all-encompassing word in Scripture. It includes election, predestination, redemption, propitiation, divine calling, regeneration, reconciliation, forgiveness, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. I mean, it is a big, glorious word. All of those events and processes — some are events and some are processes — are involved in how God saves us forever, and all of them are essential.

JOHN PIPER

Ephesians 2:8 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

1 Corinthians 1:18 “18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Romans 13:11 “11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”

So, we have been, we are being, and we will be saved — event and process forever.

We do our children no good when we treat their young reception of Christ as the end of seeking God.

Not Head Belief Only

An Emphasis on seeking helps us think rightly about true and false assurance of salvation.

There are many in the Christian culture who when asked about their story of salvation will point to being baptized as a child.

I have recently counseled a brother who had done the same thing who recently realized that baptism had meant nothing… he had since truly came to know the Lord and have begun to abide and follow Him.

Parents will do this with their adult children… not having seen fruit in their lives but pointing to a baptism.

The Dangers of False Assurance

There is a lot of danger in false assurance that parents will at times give to their children…

Jesus makes this clear…

Matthew 7:21–23 “21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

This is why the scriptures give us a remedy for this worry of our salvation… EXAMINE YOURSELF.

The Call to Self-Examination

Paul’s exact command to the troubled Corinthian church was just that… EXAMINE YOURSELF.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

Self examination is a true mark of salvation.

Beware of presuming you are saved. If with your heart you do trust in Jesus, then you are saved; but if you merely say "I trust in Jesus," it does not save you. If your heart be renewed, if you shall hate the things that you did once love and love the things you once did hate; if you have really repented; if there be a thorough change of mind, if you have been born again; then have you reason to rejoice. But if there is no vital change, no inward godliness; if there be no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then your saying "I am saved," is but your own assertion, and it may delude, but it will not deliver you. Spurgeon

What Are The Vital Signs?

What are we to examine ourselves for? to Paul’s answer… “if Christ Jesus is in you.” Do you have a living relationship with the indwelling Christ.

So, what are those vital signs? (breathing, brain activity, heart beat.

Presence of these indicates life. Absence means death.

We are given some vital signs from scripture in 1 John…

Have a sense of his own sin (1:8-9)

love and obey the Word like Jesus (2:5-6)

love other Christians (3:14)

not love the world (2:15) but resist it

not love sin (3:9-10) but fight it

believe and confess Jesus is Lord (5:1, 4:15)

The main question for us to our children really should be… What/Who do you love?

Not necessarily what do you believe?

Salvation is a transfer of love of self to love of Christ.

Bettis

The Messiness of Life

Now, we have to be careful as to read 1 John in stark black and white terms…

many will make the mistake of reading 1 John in this manner and really begin to get themselves in trouble in their understanding…

If we were to do this through all of scripture… well then you would then have to begin to questions the faiths of Abraham who lied, David who committed adultery, Peter who denied Christ 3 times.

Neither of our lives growing up in the faith… whenever you came to know Christ has been a straight perfect line. This faith has been through the messiness of a sin filled life and the messiness of a heart that is bent toward our own selfish desires.

I sincerely believed at the age of 13 years old.

There were times when I struggled mightily with sin. (I’m sure some could have questioned my salvation during these times… I even did the same)

There were times when I didn’t.

This is why it’s important to move slowly when one of ours come to a saving faith in Christ.

its important for us to adopt a wait and see approach while doing everything we can to water this young faith that we have seen.

True faith will persevere though. This is a biblical reality.

Pursue Christ!

So what do we say to our older children?

Here are some suggestions…

“Examine yourself to see if you are truly in the faith. God calls all of us to self-examination.”

“Do you love Christ, His Word, His kingdom, His righteousness?”

“As you grow older, your mind, is expanding. Your body is growing. A little child’s spiritual walk will not do any more. Will you seek God for an adult faith and an adult understanding like Jesus did?” (Luke 2:45)

“Will you pursue Christ for a real, heartfelt work of the Spirit?” (Rom. 8:16)

“Will you seek Christ for more of Christ?”

Real heart change had come from a real head belief that moved into a heart belief.

John 14:21 “21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.””

The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of himself to his people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, there are many of the children of God who could testify the truth of it from their own experience. They have had manifestations of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a peculiar manner, such as no mere reading or hearing could afford. In the biographies of eminent saints, you will find many instances recorded in which Jesus has been pleased, in a very special manner to speak to their souls, and to unfold the wonders of his person; yea, so have their souls been steeped in happiness that they have thought themselves to be in heaven, whereas they were not there, though they were well nigh on the threshold of it—for when Jesus manifests himself to his people, it is heaven on earth; it is paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun.

Especial manifestations of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer's heart.'

What do we see here to be important? SEEK CHRIST TO SPEAK TO YOUR SOUL.

We read God’s Word because we want to seek God.

I pray so that I can draw near to Him.

We fast to cleanse myself of things that I selfishly fill myself with in order to fill myself with more of Him.

I want to have a heart that HUNGERS AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I want my children to have the same…

So I better be having this understand and language in my own life. And therefore be transferring this understanding of the pursuit of Christ to my children for them to understand what it means to fight against a lukewarm life and to fight for and structure my life around a disciplined life of abiding in Christ.

Conclusion

When our children have come to a saving faith… express great joy!

Also know that they have begun a journey of SEEKING TO KNOW GOD through repentance and faith in their WHOLE CHRISTIAN life.

Teach them to examine their hearts… examine thier lives in this pursuit so that they can prevernt a false assurance of savlation.

TEACH THEM TO LIVE A FAITH THAT’s NOT JUST CHECKING OFF A BOX! TO SEEK CHRIST AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN.

Disciple-Making parents teach their children to continually seek the Lord.

For Thought, Discussion, and Action

How does this challenge the idea of being all set with our relationship with God?

Do you think it is unkind for you to be encouraged to “Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith?” So you see self-examination as a wise Christian duty?

Scripture just in case.

Eternal security of God’s predestined:

Romans 8:30 “30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Where it really rest… where our security rest.

1 Corinthians 1:8–9 “8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The condition of salvation is this…

Colossians 1:23 “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Hebrews 3:14 “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”