God-Made 4
Notes
Transcript
This week we are wrapping up this series on “God-Made” and this series has been focused on the fact that to be saved, you have to have a relationship with Christ. I think we hear far too often that you just believe in your heart and confess with your mouth and then you will be saved, but that is not true at all. That is the beginning of a life lived in surrender.
The series before this, unrighteous, we talked about the idea of Fake Christianity, and now in this series we are getting into the details of what true Christianity looks like.
Week 1 I talked about 3/7 points, and they were
1 Daily Devotion
2 Read Gods Word
3 Engage in Prayer
Week 2 was just one topic
4 Cultivate Gratitude and Worship
Last week Caleb talked bout the need to
5 Repent and return
and to
6 Seek and obey guidance
All of these things are necessities, but they may look different from person to person, but the main point is the fact that we can not be complacent in our faith. Scripture tells us in Revelation 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
How bad would that feel? You get to God, so close he can essentially taste you, and then he VOMITS You out of his mouth because you have disgusted him.
The point of this series is to direct YOU. Show you what true faith looks like and to point you to the severeness of not having faith.
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
This verse is the whole entire basis of thiis series, eternal life is knowing him. Not saying a prayer after crying at Camp, not attending an alter call at the last revival or DNOW you went to. Not the day you were baptized and Not even the “believe in your heart and confess with your mouth.”
None of that will get you into heaven. What will get you into heaven is knowing Christ. Having that relationship with him and these have all been steps to get there.
But let me ask this vulnerable question, and I want answers by a show of hands.
How many of you KNOW Christ? How many of you KNOW that you will be in heaven one day?
maybe some of you are like, yea if it ended now, im in hell.
some may say, I really don’t know, and maybe this is a big question you struggle with.
But the problem is not that you dont know, the problem is not that some of you aren’t. The problem is really that few of you ARE confident.
What makes one confident in faith?
The presence of God in their life. and man, let me tell you when you know, you know. Yes there can be times when you feel that you don't know, but ultimately thats your flesh deceiving you, but believe me when I say you will know.
But this brings us to the final point in this series...
7/ Choose Self Discipline
Self discipline, why does it matter if you are trying to focus less on the self but more on God?
That’s because in this world, there are many many distractions. Some may not be “bad” things, they may be good things, but you can’t take those good things with you everywhere and that takes a level of discernment to choose which is the proper one.
You have to choose this self discipline as a self reflection of the discipline the Lord gives you.
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Have you forgotten the fact that God calls you not one of his little minions to help rule the world, but he calls you into adoption as sons and daughters
How many of y’all have heard some old guy pray and he says to start “Dear heavenly father” ?
This is why! its a real thing! he is our heavenly father as we surrender our lives to him. He isn't just the big boss or the mean old guy in the sky that says don’t do this and that. He is your father.
What is the role of a father?
God tells Abraham his role is this as the father of God’s own people.
For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
Paul writes to the ephesians and clarifies the new role of family in the new covenant age
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Children obey your parents. That’s biblical. Even when what they say sucks, obey. Side note: you can disobey when your parents go against God.
but notice that when Paul talks about children he also makes a note for the dads here, do not provoke your kids to anger
by this he means, to discipline kids, control yourself first, don’t teach them to lash out. BUUTTT bring them up in the disciple and instruction of the Lord.
Discipline them as the Lord would discipline them, with instruction.
That doesn't mean that you don’t get a whoopin, but it does mean you gonna find out why you got that whoopin.
Some of yall may have needed more of those, but that’s another topic
Fathers are called to be disciplinarian. Follow me here, if a father is to be a disciplinarian by Gods design, who is the ultimate disciplinarian?
GOD IS.
If you are not disciplined by God you are not a child of God
I don’t mean you feel disciplined because something bad happened to you, or your family, because God doesn’t do those bad things, I mean if he is not correcting you and giving you a metaphorical spanking at times because your butt is out of line.
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
It is DISCIPLINE that you have to endure. If God is your daddy, your daddy has to discipline you!
If you aren't being disciplined constantly, are you a son or daughter of God? NO
the writer here says, you have had earthly daddies who disciplined you and you respected them! so why are you not respecting the ultimate father of not only this earth but of the spirits beyond.
The end of this shares the purpose
“he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness
Discipline leads to HIS Holiness
Seth, this is about Self discipline not about Gods discipline.
Let me ask you, what are you disciplined in?
Sports? Working out? Studying for school? TikTok?
How did you become disciplined in that? By whoever taught you to be or showed you the importance of it.
God disciplines us, so then we can become self disciplined for God
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Later on, after that godly discipline that may be painful. It probably will. it yields or produces the peaceful fruit of RIGHTEOUSNESS, to those who were trained by it.
OHHHH remember last series called “unrighteous” fake Christianity, not truly following Jesus.
Now this, discipline produces righteousness the real believing and following Christ.
But here is where the dots connect,
Yes, we need to accept and be trained by the discipline that God gives, Caleb had the point of this last week… Seek and Obey guidance right? Seek it, and when you find it, obey it. Sometimes, the guidance sucks for you, but you have to obey it to receive the fruit and blessing God will give you through it.
if you mess up, repent, quick, as soon as you realize your mistake, and then return to christ and allow for the discipline and training to become righteous.
but the reason why self discipline is so important, is because if you are not able to self discipline yourself in your relationship with Christ, then you do not care to actually follow Christ, you are going through the motions of doing a whole lot of nothing.
Self discipline is putting the truth into effect
You aren’t self disciplined? You don’t actually care about the things God has said, showed you and trained you in and you’ll just go on in sin willy nilly until it lands you in trouble once again, and ive been there, and what happens when you get there is u shake your big ole fist at God and blame him for your sin because its his fault that YOU did not listen.
Whether it be God’s heavenly discipline, our earthly fathers discipline, or our brotherly discipline. It’s usually not the most nicest sounding thing ever. Usually its abrasive, it hurts to hear, there is a level of Damage done, but it is for the greater good.
I think the best way to fix things, is to break them to a point, how am i supposed to fix something if it isn’t broken? how am i going to fix something if i can’t see the crack in the foundation of it?
Is it fun? no
will it shed some pain on us? more than likely.
but the writer of hebrews addressed that
he said we would have to endure the discipline, and when you endure it, when you take the lesson out of the situation it becomes a part of who you are, it’s a lot easier to handle than the first time it happened.
If you care about knowing who God is, if you use self discipline , that daily devotion becomes a lot easier because its not a fight
that reading gods word becomes a habit that you cant break, because you dont want to
truly engaging in prayer becomes a lot easier because your just talking to your father who has blessed you beyond your wildest dreams, and its desired
BUT I DON’T HAVE TIME?
thats really easy to say for me right now, we just had a new baby ive been out of town, not in my usual element, I have to help out in new ways that I didnt before because maddie needs me to.
Its a pretty good excuse right?
Until it becomes real condemning that I sat my butt down for two days straight and watched football all day.
It was so great, except I was miserable, tired, easy angered or annoyed because I hadn’t spent time with my father like I need to and was previously used to.
You in your daily flow, have school, practice, homework, some other extracurricular that wastes your time
you truly struggle to find time to do stuff with your friends even outside of these things!
How many of you would agree with that statement in some sense at least.
That becomes real condemning when we check your screen time or see how much of the summer i turned pretty you watched in an unholy amount of time
BIG IDEA
If you care about your relationship with Christ, you fill your time with Christ
it takes self discipline, it takes effort,
this is something that not ONE of us are good at. We are distracted worldly beings. That doesn’t excuse it though, it gives us a need to be self disciplined by the things that God has shown us, and WILL show us as we continue along our walk with him
