darin
10-15-2007, 07:15 PM
The entire message will be available for podcast next week (http://www.lighthouse-cc.org/home/subscribe-to-our-podcast) - these are my notes.
What Humans would LIKE to believe:
At the core, we're all basically Good
Humans are, by nature good, peaceful, and loving. But we have a sinful nature which taints everything we do. No matter how good our actions or intentions, we are sinners.
God's Family includes EVERYONE
Even 'good, moral folk' will die in their sins.
God is more concerned with Sincerity than truth.
Sincerity has NEVER turned a falsehood into a truth. Many folk believe God will 'understand' if somebody doesn't choose Christ, yet follows their faith religiously and faithfully. As an example of when 'sincerity' is ultimately useless - Pilots are trained to fly via instruments. Instruments give the truth, despite one's feelings. Occasionally a pilot may disregard his instruments and follow his gut feeling - sincerely, into the side of a mountain. While he HONESTLY believed he was doing the right thing, ultimately his sincerity only resulted in being sincerely dead.
What is True and confirmed both by the Bible and by our own Experience: (Ephesians 2:1-10) (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%202:1-10&version=31)
Depravity = the corruption that extends to every part of man's nature and therefore makes it impossible to please a righteous God. See Romans 8:8 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:8&version=31)
Three Main Ideas in Ephesians 2:1-10:
1. Without Jesus we are all spiritually dead. We are by nature unable to discern spiritual truth and are separated from God.
14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:14
Practical Application of this Idea:
Even Good and Moral people need Jesus (John 3, John 14).
It's foolish to expect non-christians to think like Christians.
Stop getting torqued off everytime the ACLU or Judges or Schools or people on DP.com say something which doesn't line up with Spiritual teaching. It's their nature to say such things.
1 Corinthians 5:12: What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside (the church)."
Non-Christians aren't enemies and shouldn't be treated like they are.
We have all seen the folk standing on street corners holding their signs "God hates Sinners!" (the infamous "God Hates Fags", etc). Those folk are clearly missing the boat - they are NOT living in and with the Spirit of God, but are only acting out based on 'human' (not divine) instructions.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 - 24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2. The world's most dominant influence is Satan.Ephesians 2:1-2 (Contemporary English Version):
1In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. 2You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God.
1 John 5:19: We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
2 Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God
Acts 26 17b-18: I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Satan's main task is NOT to make you "evil": His main task is to keep you dead. Almost all cults have had high moral standards. There's a church near us which borders on a cult. The members are VERY 'good people'. They take the standards of living set forth by the Bible and they ADD to them. The woman dress plainly, and in dresses, Then men are always in nice shirts and slacks. Even their little cult-kids are dressed to the nines. They forsake all caffeine, alcohol, make-up - many things you and I take as a given. However high their standards of dress, speech, and conduct, they will NOT find God based on those. Satan uses high standards to keep you from Christ. You say things like "look how GOOD I am to have (enter philanthropic activity or gesture or act of kindness, goodness)!" and "I'm not perfect, but I'm MUCH better than others around me."
Practical Application: If I want to think CLEARLY, I'd better think Biblically.
When society tells us something - anything - such as "It's perfectly NORMAL and GOOD to have sex outside of marriage. It harms nobody, and sex is GOOD!", understand Sex IS good, but ONLY in context with God's plan for sex set forth in the bible. Christians should interpret the ideas of our world through the wisdom of the bible.
3. When it comes to salvation, ALL the credit belongs to God.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Practical Application: If I know ALL the credit goes to God, then my Spirituality will be demonstrated in humility and obedience to God.
What Humans would LIKE to believe:
At the core, we're all basically Good
Humans are, by nature good, peaceful, and loving. But we have a sinful nature which taints everything we do. No matter how good our actions or intentions, we are sinners.
God's Family includes EVERYONE
Even 'good, moral folk' will die in their sins.
God is more concerned with Sincerity than truth.
Sincerity has NEVER turned a falsehood into a truth. Many folk believe God will 'understand' if somebody doesn't choose Christ, yet follows their faith religiously and faithfully. As an example of when 'sincerity' is ultimately useless - Pilots are trained to fly via instruments. Instruments give the truth, despite one's feelings. Occasionally a pilot may disregard his instruments and follow his gut feeling - sincerely, into the side of a mountain. While he HONESTLY believed he was doing the right thing, ultimately his sincerity only resulted in being sincerely dead.
What is True and confirmed both by the Bible and by our own Experience: (Ephesians 2:1-10) (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%202:1-10&version=31)
Depravity = the corruption that extends to every part of man's nature and therefore makes it impossible to please a righteous God. See Romans 8:8 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:8&version=31)
Three Main Ideas in Ephesians 2:1-10:
1. Without Jesus we are all spiritually dead. We are by nature unable to discern spiritual truth and are separated from God.
14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:14
Practical Application of this Idea:
Even Good and Moral people need Jesus (John 3, John 14).
It's foolish to expect non-christians to think like Christians.
Stop getting torqued off everytime the ACLU or Judges or Schools or people on DP.com say something which doesn't line up with Spiritual teaching. It's their nature to say such things.
1 Corinthians 5:12: What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside (the church)."
Non-Christians aren't enemies and shouldn't be treated like they are.
We have all seen the folk standing on street corners holding their signs "God hates Sinners!" (the infamous "God Hates Fags", etc). Those folk are clearly missing the boat - they are NOT living in and with the Spirit of God, but are only acting out based on 'human' (not divine) instructions.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 - 24And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2. The world's most dominant influence is Satan.Ephesians 2:1-2 (Contemporary English Version):
1In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. 2You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God.
1 John 5:19: We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
2 Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God
Acts 26 17b-18: I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Satan's main task is NOT to make you "evil": His main task is to keep you dead. Almost all cults have had high moral standards. There's a church near us which borders on a cult. The members are VERY 'good people'. They take the standards of living set forth by the Bible and they ADD to them. The woman dress plainly, and in dresses, Then men are always in nice shirts and slacks. Even their little cult-kids are dressed to the nines. They forsake all caffeine, alcohol, make-up - many things you and I take as a given. However high their standards of dress, speech, and conduct, they will NOT find God based on those. Satan uses high standards to keep you from Christ. You say things like "look how GOOD I am to have (enter philanthropic activity or gesture or act of kindness, goodness)!" and "I'm not perfect, but I'm MUCH better than others around me."
Practical Application: If I want to think CLEARLY, I'd better think Biblically.
When society tells us something - anything - such as "It's perfectly NORMAL and GOOD to have sex outside of marriage. It harms nobody, and sex is GOOD!", understand Sex IS good, but ONLY in context with God's plan for sex set forth in the bible. Christians should interpret the ideas of our world through the wisdom of the bible.
3. When it comes to salvation, ALL the credit belongs to God.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Practical Application: If I know ALL the credit goes to God, then my Spirituality will be demonstrated in humility and obedience to God.