Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
All right
So in numbers 4 1 through 49
We're going to be talking about designated Israelites who carried who cared for and carried the tabernacle furniture
Now that may not seem
too interesting
I'm a furniture carrier for the Lord, but we'll find out that there is meaning behind all that and
it truly is something that sets the
Levites apart from the rest of the tribes of Israel
so
Having said that I will just give you a quick outline of which we'll be delving into
the chapter really highlights God's order and holiness and is and if that is certainly a
Familiar scene to us about what it is that we have been learning there is no substitute
For the holiness that he provides
In his kingdom and then the order in which he executes his kingdom very precise
We learned that in everything all the way down to the buttons on the ephod and all the little things that have
transpired over the weeks that we have been talking both in Leviticus and now in Numbers and
It it is it ensures
the tabernacle that would it would be handled with commitment and
Reverence it's something that people commit today
But what I find so often is that when they commit they don't finish very well
And that's disappointing even in Christendom, you know, if you say I'll do that and then it is never executed or carried out
And that is disappointing because you're serving the Lord. You're not serving one another you are but you're ultimately serving him and then the reverence that
We should bring when we approach God and his giftings his
callings his ministry
Even the idea of just praying and you know
We probably have remembered when it was name it and claim it in those days where you just
Demand it things of the Lord and that certainly wasn't the way God's kingdom should have worked
but people thought that and
you know the peace and prosperity movement came and went and so consequently we have a
Need these days to understand if God's moving in
Revelation and restoration in his kingdom here on earth and bringing revival
That is because the reverence that we have the unity that we have to pray for God to move
so the
duties of the
cathites
were again carrying most of the important furniture the ark the table the lampstand and the altar and
those items work to be
Covered by Aaron and his sons before they were transported and we'll get into that question in a little bit
That the people the rest of the Levites
That were to do this administration weren't even to see these things
weren't even to view the ark the table the lampstand and the altar and
they had to be covered by Aaron in which we'll talk about that and
There were strict rules touching or seeing the uncovered holy objects led to death and that's a
Fearsome thing when you think about working around and moving in furniture and all this and all of a sudden you get a glimpse of these
Things, you know, you'd be struck dead
Well again the duty of the Gershonites then their their tasks to carrying out the
Carrying the curtains the coverings and the cords of the temple if you remember the temple it had it had posts
It had curtains both inside and outside and they were supervised by Aaron's son
Ithamar to do these things think about wrapping them up preparing them disassembling them carrying setting them up and getting ready for again
Another pilgrimage and then the duties of the Maronites
They were responsible for all the frames the crossbars the post and the bases of the tabernacle
Which again was the outside perimeter by and large and again
They were under the supervision of the same man. And then finally we end up in
3334 through 49
talking about the qualification of these men being from 30 years to 50 years of age for service and
The number of the Levites were total
8,580 of them. So that's a brief sketch in the outline thereof
so let me kind of just do a
Clarification here and maybe you do and maybe you don't remember all priests were of Levites
But not all Levites were priests
There was the administration which we just covered of those three tribes
But there were the high priests that was the descendant of Aaron Aaron and his descendants in the tribe of Lehi
again
He had the exclusive rights along with his children and their children to perform the
Sacrifices that were required and to enter into the Holy of Holies
So again, we we talk about the word Levite and there's many of them in the administration
They were one of the tribes of Israel, but not all of them
ministered in the Holy of Holies
So the Levites versus the priests now
So we have Levites that are going to do the service and we have the Levites that are priests that are that enter in
Everyone had their specific duty. They performed we just went over that
So the other Levites the non priests if you will
the Cathites and the
garrisonites and the Maricites were again
And
They executed the
Tabernacle duties, but they could not perform those priestly functions
so there is a distinct difference between the two and
We just want to make sure we understand the ground rules
So the roles of the non priest basically those tribes they carried those sacred
Objects they couldn't touch them. They couldn't see them until they were covered by the the high priests and
Again, there was transportation of the curtains and the coverings we said and the Maritites they again had the structural components
So that's again a difference of the the two
Distinct groups of people within the Levites. So now let's pose a question here
What was the significance of being appointed to be a furniture carrier of
Tabernacle furniture
What was the significance of that?
Okay, just you Ron and and Jackie you just do that over here. What is their significance to this?
What is what is that significance?
Because
That's where the priest sits on
Okay, the furniture sits but but why did they do that? What was their calling? Am I just a simple furniture carrier?
Is there more to this?
Because that furniture was holy to God. Okay
All right
And so with that there was a calling and an anointing on that furniture. Okay, so let's develop that a little bit
alright
so
These men were entrusted with preserving the holiness of God's dwelling place now, why were they?
designated to preserve the holiness
Yes
But they weren't originally God wasn't going to ordain them to do this job originally, but look at this
Why because there's zeal for defending God's honor during the golden calf rebellion
caused them because of their loyalty to get God's attention and
So consequently the entire tribe stood with Moses against
diagolatry you can read that we we should have gone over that and
God originally chose the firstborn sons of Israel for this task because of their loyalty
He then shows the Levites
To do the sacrifice to do this service. So again, it was set apart
It was special it was to preserve the holiness of God's dwelling
Now let's bring it back to today. We are interested with his glory
We are to live a set-apart life and to stand for truth and for service
Just like they did there it remember there's a there's the there's the type and the archal type meaning the two
Old Testament and New Testament
So we are what we are charged to do what?
Live a life that is set apart for the service of the Lord
Like the Levites were set apart to do the service and the administration of the tabernacle
This role was not just about transporting objects. It was about honoring God's presence
Which you alluded to and ensuring his dwelling place remain pure and holy
We remember the stories further on down the way what happened to the sons of Israel they didn't adhere to these
Exact laws and what happened they died because they went in the Holy of Holies not prepared. They took foreign fire with them
So again, these are the reasons that they were chosen
There's a sacred responsibility to all that we do and the tabernacle
Also was the dwelling place of God and
Transporting its furniture required strict reverence meaning our responsibility is to reverence him in our being
Not casually come in Lord. I need this or I need that or pray
Centric to your needs but worship him and the sacred responsibility that we now even have because we are considered holy
And we'll talk about a little bit about that in a bit now the symbol of worship
They were carrying the ark the lamb stand the altar and the other furnishings represented Israel's devotion to God
like our devotion to him and
When we're not devoted to God God certainly doesn't use us like if we would be completely devoted to him
So the beati obedience to divine order again something we need to live in each Levite family had
specific duties
Well, you know Gail's over here
She's in charge of the the lamb stand and I think I'll go over and help her
well
if I supposed to take care of the cords and the and the and the other tabernacle things I can't do her job and
That's like the kingdom of God
God calls you with specific ministries to do certain things with your creative being and I can't come in and
Displace you
Because it's your calling
we all have unique callings we all have unique gifts and
Consequently, we have to respect that so each Levite family had these specific duties
Entrusting the holiness of God to be preserved. That was the goal
So now let me ask another question for you
Why was covering the fixtures required before being moved?
Why couldn't the remainder of the Levites see these things?
Again, it's that same thing about the holiness of God and so only
Those Levites that and Aaron especially that were permitted to go into the Holy Place
They were the only ones that were allowed to look upon those things
So nobody else could even look upon them let alone touch them
Think about the anointing that comes with calling
We're all called to do something and
In walking or calling that calling there is an anointing that we walk in no matter what this is in the kingdom of God
And so I can't go over and help again that the example I can't help Gail
Because her anointing for doing what she's doing is different than mine and God when he gave each unique
Responsibility to each grouping of people
You can't go over and get into that anointing because God's not going all out of that
God won't give you grace for that or calling for that now
You may want to do that because gee you have a public ministry and I don't all I do is haul furniture
but there is a
Separation between those that are high priests because the anointing they had they could go into the holy of holies
They could do the worship they could do the sacrifice
But the rest of the Levites as we talked about couldn't so they don't have capacity
To be able to begin to do those things because it wasn't in God's providence
There's a frown on your face thinking
We talked about
Levites
Divided into two groups the Levites that were high priests could go in and out of the temple
The Levites that were carriers of all the furniture and things they couldn't even see the because they had to be covered up
So we're distinguishing why couldn't they see why weren't they allowed to see because they didn't have the anointing for doing that because remember
It goes back to Gail's statement. It's the holiness of God. It doesn't get any more holier than that
Because he visited that place and he dwells in that place
You know, sometimes I think we don't reverence God enough
In the flippant things sometimes we ask selfishly or their attitudes that we have
But God is a holy God and
We have to respect that
so that anointing which anointing I'll define for you is
empowering and
the
Concentration of individuals
Does excuse me the empowering and
Consecration of individuals does not come without the calling of God to fulfill the specific purpose
In other words, like we said we can't walk and someone else was calling
so we got that out of the way what thought comes to me about the
Levites about their ministry was this verse and
And I'm to the point in time in my life where there's no other thing that I'm interested in
I've given up all my hobbies, you know put them aside
You know, you ready to give you a motorcycle up yet? Oh
I'm just kidding. So
Here we are and and this verse really came to me and understood and I understood why they were the way they were
Psalm 84 10 for a day in your courts is better than a thousand years elsewhere
And I would rather be a doorkeeper a simple doorkeeper in the house of God
Then dwell in the tents of the wicked
You know now I engaged in sin and I thought sin was fun for a season
But after a while it got old but God doesn't get old
He renews our passions and our interests for him every day as we as we come before him
So that's that's our verse that kind of connects those two
alright
Let's look at the application for us as individuals in preserving the holiness of God
What does that look like?
Jesus himself is described as the true temple. We are also called the temple of God
It says in Corinthians. Do you not know that you?
yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you
That's an awesome thought in 1st Peter. It says be holy in everything you do
Just as God is holy. He is the one who chose you
Thus here we go if we are to obey and be holy that simply means that we have to be set apart and
We are to reflect God's holiness
Now I won't ask the showing of hands, but how many times have we failed in reflecting God's holiness?
In our concourse of our spouse our friends
Business and whatever and I'll leave that to you no show of hands
There are no exceptions then to the qualities of holiness
We are the expression of God and his government and we must now honor his sacred nature
That's what the scripture says
So we are to live a lifestyle holiness
So my question that is how can one develop a lifestyle that is holy?
How can we?
mortals that we are
Develop this and he takers
Well, it says in Hebrews as you think about that in Hebrews 10 encourages believers to draw near to God with a sincere heart
That's one aspect
second Corinthians 7 purify yourselves from everything that is
That contaminates the body and the spirit
So you have the idea of drawing near to God because he's holy and that the idea of purify yourselves you do it
So where is the dilemma?
Where is the answer?
Okay, I won't leave you hang
All right, let's look at lifestyle holiness
Let's parse this up and see what this looks like
it is a
process it's not an occurrence of
purification
Well
First of all, there is
part of us as
we come to the Lord as a little child accepting him and
Beginning to know him know his ways know of his ways not necessarily walk in them
but at least know them as we read and as we give ourselves to the Lord and
two offshoots of
that are basically the worship and the reading of his word that bring us to an understanding of who he is and
Then second of all spending time in his presence and we have talked about these things many times
That's what induces you to begin to live the different life
It's the groundwork that's being laid in Christian's life to be able to bring them to maturity
When people don't pray when people don't read the word when people don't worship when they don't spend time
They don't advance in the kingdom. I hate to be harsh, but that's the way it is
God says what if you seek me I will be found
He sought us at salvation. But now he says, okay, here you go. What are you gonna do?
And as you come you begin to be like this little child
The second thing as we begin to grow up we grow in Christ we begin to understand
What he's like his character what he does what he doesn't do what he likes what he doesn't like
I mean, sometimes I get up in the morning. I think I've said this and I say Lord, what do you want to do today?
What's on your what's on your agenda instead of me giving me him mine. What do you want to do?
What do you want me to do just open-ended conversations?
That's the teenager in us as we begin to learn and we begin to understand his precepts in his ways and
Again, we are
nurturing our
Talents
We are beginning to see that we then have
certain qualifications being fulfilled in our life certain ministries certain callings and
We're again being motivated in
Either mentoring or discipleship whatever you want to call that there are various programs that we have in this church to bring you along
to help you to encourage you and as you begin to grow up you begin to be more of an
offense to the kingdom of darkness
now
The third element is shaping the lives that we have
again, this is our adult life and you know those of you that have had children as
Children grow up and they're needy and all they do is poop and yell for food
You know and after a while all of a sudden they've grown up and they're in college and they're independent
They don't need us anymore. Oh, don't we feel lonesome?
But we feel proud that they were able to bring about a transformation in what God wants to do in their life
So this is the adult life. So what attributes begin to develop there?
again
Activating the sphere of influence your influence you each one of us have an influence in
our relationship with friends with people we work with people we have coffee with obviously people in the church
But you want to cultivate that field of opportunity because that's where that's where the missional spirit of God begins to work
Yeah, we can go out and we can go to the hinterlands of the of the Bahamas
I always used to say if God ever called me to be a missionary. I'd like to be in the Bahamas
So he gave me that and he gave me four years in Bermuda, but I wasn't following him
but anyway
We are
Activating that sphere of influence by virtue of beginning to step out of ourselves and our interest in who we are and
begin to relate to people to influence them for Christ and we practice then
Authentic love we now understand what real love is because we've understood from the father
What love is how he has come how we are children of him how we adore him
Sometimes in the morning when I get up and I go into our Sun room. I just Lord. I just love you
You know, sometimes I cry sometimes I don't but you know the expressions that we could have for our father
Because he's really he really is our father
So again, those things are developing and then we have what I call the reproduction cycle of ourselves
living beyond ourselves
Not just having a free ticket to heaven as I have spoken about before but producing more than you consume. I
Mean how many people sit in congregations year after year week after week day after day receive the word of the Lord
And there's nothing wrong with that and you get filled up. But where's the outflow of that?
Where do you have opportunity to let that stuff flow out from your being?
And that's important because after a while you get so full
Wasn't that good another sermon Chris preached or I heard something on the radio or this or that. Okay, what good is that doing?
Well, it is building you up but at some point in time you begin to choke in your own saliva
so to speak
there has to be an outlet no matter how small that may be and
Then finally meaningful and relevant
Lifestyles that you communicate and that's where we are at in our community is not
Going and button-holing them because it's their last trip because they're all retired
Yeah, you're going to hell if you don't come to Jesus, you know that that doesn't play these days
What does play is lifestyle evangelism have him for dinner talk with him be friend with them
And as they get to know people begin to come to the Lord. I mean, it's just wonderful. It's it's such an easy thing
There's more clouds and things that come up gail
So so so here we have we have I'm saving you some time on your on your iPhone
You can take pictures at what you want thus in all this a transformation takes place in our lives in
Romans 12 1 it encourages believers to be transformed by the renewing of their mind
Rejecting worldly influences and embracing God's standard
That's what the game is about
Now there are impediments to this life cycle
Because not all of us get through that I'm speaking of Christendom now
There are perhaps sinful practices that you indulge in that are secret sins
Worldly focuses that draw you. Oh, I can't help but I mean, you know, there was was this one lady we were kind to and as she got
More needy and couldn't do things. I was helping her and she would receive
One or maybe two packages from Amazon every day. Her house was full of junk
So we went over there to help her clean out. I will tell you because she's deceased now
So if there's no stories out of school if she had one curling iron, she had eight of them in a drawer
If she had one pocketbook, she had two or three dozen of them
She had clothes with tags on hanging in the closet. She never wore so she was being fulfilled by Amazon
You know that eternal need for something and you see it what I call
It might in my terms garage theology
if you're if you're passing people's homes and their
Garage doors lifted up seldom they have room for cars
It's full of stuff either going into the house or coming out of the house. It's a staging platform
for things and
When you come to the end of life
and you begin to retire and move and
You get rid of things and some people don't ever move into Meadowood because they just can't get rid of their things
So there is a workly worldly focus that inhibits us
second of all
this sinful practice
again, our actions that go against God's will and
Sometimes his moral teachings these behaviors can lead us away from righteous living and consequently we can become
ineffective tools that God cannot use because of our focus
He wants to use you
But he can't
Why holiness?
The objectivity of that the priority of your life
Now another thing if you can't if Satan can't get you drawn back into sin
And getting away from the Lord. Sometimes he'll do just the opposite
He'll create such a false
Spirituality in you that you're no good to your brothers and sisters and I'll cover these things
That's focusing on yourself not the Lord
false spirituality are lies and deceptive actions that can leave emotional scars and
Some of us may have suffered from these things
The result can be abuse and disappointment
Which really destroys lives that otherwise could be tools for God's use
He doesn't use us unless we do you want me to pull these things down or do you want it this way
There
That or do you want this
That okay
Photo shot
All right, okay
All right now
Question in all this we got the life cycle. We know where we're supposed to be. We know the impediments
So, how do we purify ourself?
How do we purify ourself?
Nobody want all we got two. Okay. All right, right on
Well, I would like to rephrase the question more. So like how does God purify us and I would say there's a scripture in my head
But I don't remember it exactly
But I know it's something about the how the word of God purifies us washes us clean by the word
So yeah, I say it's the word of God. All right, you're getting close and you got half the component
Okay
God
Again does work and we'll we'll add to that
Well, we have to
Another sort of like turn over ourselves over we have to yield ourselves completely
So the Holy Spirit can have his way to do whatever he needs to in us
Well, we have to get out of the way
The Holy Spirit
Yeah
Taking heed unto his word and being devoted and being it's not just believing it's
It's got a heart thing to it where you just want to
Take heed and yield and whatever
Let's put some of these things together. So how do we do this?
We do this in two ways
God's role in purification is positional
Hear me. He declares us
Like you said to be holy
God cleanses us through Jesus 1st John 1 7 the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin
So that's where you were probably coming from maybe
God's grace again
transforms our hearts
Ezekiel 36 it describes how God gives his people a new heart and a new spirit
So that's God's proposition
the Holy Spirit
Then sanctifies believers in 2nd Thessalonians
It says that we are saved through sanctifying work of the Spirit of God. So we've got God
We've got the Holy Spirit coming
That's again part of what we're doing and our role in purification and like you said Gail is the
experiential role
We grow into holiness. We are holy
Positionally by God, but we have to grow in that
How do we do that it says we are called to
Purify ourself 1st John 3 3 everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself
Just as he is pure
Jackie you were getting there and some of the thought that you had
Obedience and repentance matter James 4 8 it urges believers to cleanse your hands
You sinners and purify your hearts
So there is two components to this what God is doing has done
Positionally what we have to do by yielding to the Holy Spirit
So the question then how can we fully experience this purity and holiness for ourselves?
How does this mechanical thing work out you were going through this and you were thinking that you know
I could see your mind working and and how does that all come about?
Do I give the answer now or anybody?
Okay, all right that had some of it
Surrender yourself surrender. Yeah, so God you the Lord of my life. Okay. Yeah. All right came the president
So I'm surrendered I give my life
Yeah, I
I also want to just
Go back and finish out something here about can I just do something here a minute? It says some in Ezekiel
No, no, I think in Ezekiel where he says I'll give you a new heart with new and right desires and then in it
it also says
He enables us by the Holy Spirit
And I'll tell you I can't do anything without his enabling power. Yes. It's his grace
But I have to yield to it as I think my sister is saying the word of God is just the Spirit of God
It's the Holy Spirit and it really is that enabling grace that he
gives me
Revelation from the Bible, which is the written word into us as the spoken word
Okay
Yes, very much so
All right. Anybody else? Oh, yeah, Ron
Well, I think we can have all this stuff in our mind
But until we transfer it down to our heart
it's not going to mean anything and
You know, I think that's a
Something that we have to live with and you know, the Holy Spirit
His job is to glorify Christ
Yes
So, let's put some of these more piece some of these pieces together for those of you that came in later
I'm drinking in front of you. I don't I'm not trying to be not polite, but I just had a
An implant done it was two and a half hours of surgery and 23 stitches. So I'm kind of like
Wandering around here
All right
Please pray for me
All right. Here we go
Our part in this
Experiential purification starts in the conscience
So the conscience consists of beliefs
Values
thoughts and
emotions
The outworking of that which we see in people's lives is the behavior and action
So there is subconscious and conscious
Now here's a verse of Scripture for you
If it'll come up did it freeze I
Hope not
There we go, okay, we unfroze it and we'll put it in presentation mode again
so
here's a verse of Scripture in
Second Timothy 3 16. It says this all Scripture will empower you by instruction and
Correction giving you strength to take the right way
So the Scripture
Has these things embedded in them?
It instructs us it gives us guidelines
It also gives us correction. Oh, you shouldn't do this and do that and it gives examples of how in
Correction God came to his people and then it gives us strength to be able to be encouraged whatever things
We're going through whatever difficulties were going through
He gives us strength. Not always do we get delivered from?
but we have strength to walk through whatever that may be and
again
To take the right way
There's a fork in the road Lord. I need your answer. Is it right or is it left?
He's gonna give you that way the right way so now how do we do that? How does that work?
Well, let me give you an example of these things that are our subconscious. What's on the inside of us?
the beliefs
Are an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists
It could be that it doesn't exist, but that's what your belief is and I'll give you an example of this Alex
I'm going to use Alex as a as an example Alex tries to master new tasks, but fails
You know, he he has this desire. He has his belief that he can do it, but he fails all the time
Next are values values are beliefs that
reinforce an individual's behavior and decision-making
I believe this just like Alex now avoids new tasks because he doesn't believe he can do it
There's something happened inside
The
Thoughts that he has are
ideas or opinions produced by thinking
boy, don't we think too much sometimes or
Occurring suddenly in the mind. Oh, we got to do this and do that
Friend of mine went out and bought a a new Dodge Ram pickup eight years ago
And he was on unemployment and he somehow he got the the okay and he brought the he was proud of it
And I went over there. Yes, how are you gonna pay for this thing? Oh, it'll be alright
Well in two months, it was on his lawn for sale and it was foreclosed, you know those sudden impulses and
Like Alex, which is our example now
Has thoughts of self-doubt
Leading to I know I'm not capable of doing these things his thought processes
His conscience is working on him
Now what our emotions our emotions are a natural state of mind coming from one's
Circumstances mood and relationships with others
Alex feels frustrated and now ashamed and embarrassed that he can't do these things
So we have all these things underneath of us
vying
Fighting disagreeing
And then behaviors are those things above ground which everybody else sees
The way in which one acts or conducts oneself especially toward others now Alex delays or
Or procrastinates making decisions and deadlines and his stress increases
so now it's manifest to others and
The actions the actions are the act of or process of doing something typically to achieve an aim
Alex settles for less
Decline social invitations
promotions and literally closes down
Because why he had these under thoughts underneath of him inside of him now
How
Do we overcome these sinful practices?
The key to winning the battle for holiness is our conscience our conscience speaks to us
Good or bad people that don't know the Lord have a conscience
So don't reject what your conscience is trying to tell you. It's your warning system within your soul your spirit
That's what speaks to you
The Holy Spirit works through your conscience to communicate to your inner voice
See now
Let's add to that in first Timothy you will be faithful and have a clear conscience
Some people have made a mess of their faith because they didn't listen to their conscience
That's the word. That's not me
So
How do we get from the word through the conscience and change our attitudes and ways?
The conscience is not equipped
Or acquainted with the law of God or the Word of God. It's just a tool inside of us
It's a mechanism of the human soul
Everybody has this the funk to function properly. It must have right information
Now this is where this all comes together
The conscience doesn't produce its own values
It absorbs its values from the Word of God, that's why we read that's why we assimilate
It can only let light into the soul having the right information if we don't give it information
It's gonna go its own way
So holiness now back to our theme
comes because of the process of the Word of God
Through the Holy Spirit, which is the means in which to make alive that Word of God
Informing our conscience and then our conscience informs us as a person to do the things we should do
Does that make sense to you?
It's it's kind of a long process but
Summing it up if we don't read and we don't pray and we don't we're not available
We won't have a changed conscience if we don't allow the Holy Spirit to work in our life
Our conscience won't change will still have these underlying thoughts the conscience can go bad or can go good
it's for us to determine where we are going who we are going to listen to and
How we are going to edify ourselves and build ourselves up so that we can be conquerors in Christ
so now our first
Impediment to
Lifestyle holiness which won that pie chart was sinful practices
They are in the heart of all regenerate people
All unregenerate people have sinful practices part of Adam was put in this when we were born before we were born
I said our Jeremiah 17 the hardest deceitful above all things and desperately wicked
Who can now it and I love these people in TV? Well, you're a kind person you do meaningful and you're gonna be okay and
And all this and you know that that's nice, but that's not going to get you where you want to go
Because we're deceitful inside
Like I tell my wife and she doesn't like it. Everybody's black on the inside dark
You know, there's there's a darkness in there. It's it's only because God regenerates us
Romans 8 7 the mind governed by the flesh is hostile toward God. It doesn't submit to God's law
Nor can it do so it doesn't have it's neither. There's no ability there. Oh
Universal God you just you know you pray and you know, you go here and you you know, you meditate there
All roads lead to home. No, all roads don't lead to home. We know that there is a specific road. It's narrow. It's not wide
Romans 7 14 Paul describes the struggle of sin
Emphasizing that apart from Christ people are enslaved to sinful desires
We can't get away who we gonna be a slave to the Lord or Satan
There's no freedom is there?
Now I don't want to be free when on this side of life
Okay, again, here's our conscience. We talked about that
Here's our subconscious. We have all these things inside us
fear regrets stress anger greed jealousy obsession addiction and
They're below the surface
These are emotions
We
Can hide them
And
those weaknesses and flaws
That we hide other people won't see
And as long as they dwell in the subconscious
We can create what I call
Sunday morning great you come in the door Sunday morning and I preach preach it
How you doing? You say great, right? Yeah, so what's on the inside there, right? We don't know that
You know, we don't have an x-ray to look in there ah
He was out late last night and you know, whatever. I mean, I'm just I'm picking on you. I'm sorry. All right, okay
So Sunday morning specials are okay. We all showered and we're already us men we shaved
Partful part of us. Oh, it would look good. What's on the inside?
This secret life
Puts up roadblocks
To true fellowship. I will tell you that again and again
It stops us from deep relationships. It stops us from participating in small groups
it again
Doesn't want to get close to other Christians because they may find out
There's something on the inside something it's not dealt with
So left unchecked with all these things
We're not dealt with in layman's terms. They will eventually manifest themselves in the conscience and then become
Behaviors and attitudes they perk up to that level. Remember our arrows going up
Now they are seen and felt by others
the hostility of other people to us the love of other people to us or
Those needs that other people every time I some people you come up to oh, I have this need
Okay. Well, you didn't ask how I was
Not that they have to but they're all concerned about themselves all the time. All right
now hence in our
Sinful attitudes and now these practices that we have it brings distance between us and the Lord
Our resistance to being invisibly governed by the agape God
limits us from living in his freedom
Galatians 5 1 Christ has set us free. This means we are really free indeed when we walk in God's
Boundaries life really works for us. It works for us. It works for us. You can see it here
Here we are gathered together in a church in the middle of the week. Some of us work. Some of us didn't
But we're here we were drawn here. We want to come here
Okay, let's define these things
All right fear
Debilitating trait excessive or selfish desire for more
God's remedy or enabling trait is courage confidence and peace
Regret is miss chances and mistakes and the opposite to those satisfaction contentment and fulfillment
Stress as we talked about the state of mental and emotional pain
Again, God's economy. It's calmness
relaxation and peace
Anger is displeasure annoyance and hostility and God's enabling trade is joy
patience and forgiveness
greed is an intense and selfish desire and
God's economy generosity selflessness and
moderation
jealousy
resentment
insecurity fear of loss and in God's economy contentment trust and
admiration
obsession again is
persistent intense
preoccupation on things the obsession in the kingdom of God is avoiding extremes and thoughts and behaviors and
then addiction is chronic condition characterized by compulsive engagement and
Again moderation in all things the Bible says self-control building meaningful relationships instead of seeking escape through addiction
So now question
What outcomes have you experienced from a character change in your life?
You don't have to say it's any one of these things
But what is the character change? What were you and what are you now?
See I I I I I I I go down in here and
And my big thing is obsession
Persistent intense preoccupation had to do things. Well, I learned that that's not the kingdom of God
So he changed me. How did he change me? He brought me down to nothing
He took my business away, you know, and all the stories that you heard about that and I had nothing at the age of 49 zero
and then God rebuilt me and
gave me an opportunity to redeem that time both spiritually and
emotionally and financially
So that's my short story
What is your short story?
What are the example that you had that got what is evident now that you didn't have?
Nobody wants to talk. Okay. All right
Yeah, I go
I got one sure. Let's go. No mine was addiction. I was addicted to nicotine and
nicotine
Yeah, big time and
Oh at least three or four day
Well, maybe not maybe not but maybe not quite so much but enough enough
But I did what what really broke me was a wonderful thing is the Holy Spirit cuz I did when I became a Christian
Is when I became convicted? Yeah. All right. Yeah, and so I tried to do it myself John for three years
I tried to stop smoking myself. I think I had a pack and all my friends houses just in case I couldn't
I
Did I have my little stash and in none of that stuff worked and I started smoking
Cigarillos and cigars anything that would you know, not cigarettes. Well, anyway
Make a long story short when the Holy Spirit got ahold of me
That's what it really was because I had to really come to a place where I had to realize that
That he addiction was and I it was idolatry for me for me. It was an idol
I love the cigarettes more than God
I wanted them more than I mean
I'd be very angry if the kids when they put pinholes in my cigarettes and I couldn't get a draw
I'm Roger for you to go though. Yeah, they go the drug store and get cigarettes for me
It was pretty bad for a period of time, but then the Lord just deliver me
But you know what? He delivered me by the Word of God
And it was a story of Jehoshaphat
When he I just saw it and saw me. He was just totally helpless
There wasn't a blessed thing he can do the enemy was surrounding him
I did I really felt that I was a surrounded by the evil one, you know
And he's just put laid on his face in this and he said, you know, I can't do this
This is too much and the Lord says well, that's not your problem
It's my problem and he says that the addiction to get over addiction is to submit to me daddy
And I did and he says and I remember the words he used was this battle daddy isn't yours. It's mine
I have done it for you. This is part of your salvation
I have done everything for you and that's I believed it and I was set free
And that's when wow, that's probably good 56 years ago
Well as another story is they were they were healed yeah back to when I was 18, yeah, okay good
Anybody else any admissions, you know, I had a friend that I was working with in one of our churches
He was an Indian fella and then he used to smoke and now he said he'd like you
I'm gonna give up smoking and he flushed his cigarettes down the toilet. He found some extra
He took a puff and he threw it in the toilet. Well a day went by and he came home from work
He was so destitute
He took that cigarette out of the toilet dried it off and had to smoke that just to get that nicotine
You know and it wasn't until he gave it to the Lord that he that he was delivered from that. Yeah
Yes, scale
So mine is kind of kind of all of the above but it's
It comes from being a woman and having to submit yourself to a husband that you don't really trust
hmm, so
You know, there's a passage in first Peter I think he talks about women having to
You really have to put God first and trust him and
then you can trust your husband because he's under God's authority and you have to be able to put that in the right order and
It took me years to be able to do that. It took me to husband number three to be able to do that
but
He knows all about it
but
my my first husband was a narcissist and
You can't live with a narcissist happily. Uh-uh. My second husband was
an alcoholic and he gambled and
so we couldn't always pay our bills and
So it was really real. I had a lot of anxiety and then I also had a lot of anger towards them
because they're they were making my life more stressful and
unhappy, so
You really it really all comes back to your relationship with God that has to come first
Yeah, so until I learned to do that, I was dealing with all that garbage
Not we not us he is the deliverer, okay, so
The second impediment to a
Lifestyle holiness is false spirituality and I'll zip through these things because I know that this doesn't affect you
Or this isn't you false spirituality are practices or beliefs that appear to be spiritual but lack
authenticity depth and true
Transformation it can manifest itself in many ways
Projection projecting oneself as having great spiritual knowledge or gifting
I've seen that many times manipulation some individuals or groups distort spiritual teachings because of their personal bias
Superficial practices
Engaging in spiritual activities or even gifts without true understanding of the gift and the Holy Spirit in the guidance of that gift
And that's dangerous. Obviously
Or
deficient emotions
instead of facing them
Asserting one's presence controlling conversations
Directing them to establish their own credibility to feed their egocentric life. So that's what false spirituality look like
What's the motivation behind these practices?
Well, oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead
Nope. Nope
See if you had a computer I'd send you this whole file Oh
Well, I'll send it to you
Okay, what spirituality look like and I will then this is the last page so hang on here
First of all, do not look to man for your answers, but look to God
It's Chris. It's the elders. They're shepherds. They're under shepherds. They watch out for you. They pray for you
We have different things different people do in the body that support you and mature you and help you get going in life
But we don't look to man as the answer. It's ultimately God
Isaiah says stop trusting in mere humans who have but a breath in their nostrils
Psalm 118 says it's better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in men
Don't try to use God for your own means
Bigger plans bigger ministry bigger house. It just shows you how
Much you have not grown up. You need need need want want want
Be yourself be real and do not think more of yourself than you should because all we are is humble servants
Please allow your character to honor God in all things
How I reflect his character reflects on him
Well, if that's Christianity in the way you are I don't want it right, you know that we've heard that before
Yeah
Genesis 17
Jehovah said to Abraham I am the Almighty walk before me and be perfect
Perfect in this case simply means doing the best of your ability and as you want to represent God accurately
Not yourself in point but accurately and
Then always remember he that you choose your that you don't choose your own path
He chooses his path that he wants you to take now whether you yield to that that's up to you
Romans 9 20
But who are you all man to talk back to God show what is formed say to him who formed it
Why did you make me this way?
Realize that you cannot make room for yourself in your ministry. Only God promotes your ministry the more you push
The less he supports you
walk humbly
recognize your own flaws embrace growth and always seek his truth and
then maintain a deep sense of peace joy and
contentment which comes from spending time with him and
Continually live life with that again a forgiving heart to all who cross your path good bad or otherwise
Luke 6 do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn. You'll not be condemned
Forgive and you will not and you will be forgiven
so in the last question
What does true spirituality look like to you and because of the well I can do two minutes
What's this look like? What's true spirituality mean to you? I told you what I think spirituality is in these six points
What's spirituality if you define it in words? What is it?
Tough one, it's ten after eight John. Why do you ask such deep penetrating questions, right? I want to go home
So do I my teeth hurt
My 23 stitches hurt. Oh
It was awful two and a half hours in the operating chair
No yesterday. I
Don't want to go there. I came home grumpy. I would admit that you can ask my wife
So what's what's it look like what spirituality look like
Give me one little one little thing. Oh, yeah
So I would have related to the last slide that you had about like all those character traits
I would say it's like being calm having peace
Because I was before that I would stress out a lot
I think I was like the counter negativity
So he used to stress out because I was playing God
You know in my own life and trying to take things into my own hands and getting upset that things weren't working out
The way that I wanted to you know wanted to work out, but I had to realize, you know, I'm not God
I'm not Jesus and to just take that back seat
Let him handle it and when you change my character to be humble and just to submit to his will not do my own will
Everything I started to have a lot more peace and faith and security. So yeah
You learned that at such a young age. I didn't learn it at your age
Yes, I
Think making him number one priority in your life, okay, and that's how life works for me when I
Made Jesus as the Lord my Savior. So things start to work out
Do we supposed to you know not on my own strength, but you know with God's presence in my life
So yeah, so just making him in the moment purity. Yeah father daddy, right? Yeah, that's it
All right
Anything else? All right, yeah
I'm just acknowledging the fact that my life doesn't belong to myself any longer
Because if I've had asked Jesus into my heart, then he's supposed to be Lord of my life
And so whatever I do, whatever I think whatever I say, it should be honoring to him because he's in charge of my life now
Doesn't it give you a rest to know that instead of striving and thinking and doing all right
Any last questions?
Okay, John say the benediction so we can leave. Okay, we will Lord. Thank you for this time of fellowship
Lord we trust that
We learned something from your word tonight
something that we can talk in our hearts and build upon and
Yet again become more holy as you are holy
Lord, we know that your demands for holiness come with love and patience and
Father not with a whip or a cane
Or a struggle as was stated but because of your love to us
Your peace that you put in our hearts that passes all understanding
Lord God, we do. Thank you that we can put you there you're on the throne and
Dearly beloved we honor you for who you are. Oh God in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for your time
Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss his word
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Be blessed and have a great day