Christian Ministry As Life In The Easy Yoke: Soul Rest In What We Do With Christ [view presentation slides]
REVIVE YOUR SOUL #1
Christian Ministry As Life In The Easy Yoke: Soul Rest In What We Do With Christ
Mt 13.43 -- Then shall the righteous shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.
We are those people who will shine like the sun, the weight of glory
(with Gordon MacDonald, and Larry Crabb)
2 Cor 3. no more important passage for pastors to bathe in.
ministry of condemnation v. ministry of freedom
we should interpret Scripture practically
our life in God is hidden. we don't have a clear perception of it ourselves. we need to be careful in judging our own lives.
Invitation to Rest
• Matthew 11:28-30
• Jeremiah 6:16
• Psalm 37:3-8
• Hebrews 4:9-11
To rest in Jesus it is essential to take His yoke and learn from Him sin shreds our own souls, pulls our roots up out of God the Psalms is basically a soul book. the Psalmist speaks to the soul, experiencing it in various ways
UNREST OF SOUL
• Is carrying your life on your own.
• Doing your work entirely by your own abilities: the “flesh.”
• Why: “Cursed is the man … who makes flesh his strength.” (Jer. 17:5)
• The warfare of desires. (James 4:1-3)
taking a moral vacation is the invariable result of carrying the load on our own b/c it is unsustainable
we have to learn to trust God in the times when we feel like if we don't do something nothing is going to happen
--I think my temptation is to feel like I need to take care of myself b/c God won't :-(
WHAT IS YOUR SOUL?
• One of the fundamental dimensions of human personality.
• Its function is to integrate all essential aspects of you to form one life.
• The deepest part of you, and not under your direct control. It runs your life in the now.
• It is “spiritual” as “non-physical.”
The Whole Person diagram
Renovation of the Heart, pg 38
WE DO EXPERIENCE OUR SOUL
If we live reflectively, we sense the soul like a stream of life moving in us and through and around us. It is an inward
stream of life. It may be conflicted, dried up, broken, non-functional, but also restored, refreshed, revived, full of vitality and direction and peace and joy.
ROOTED IN GOD
• The natural and healthy condition of the soul is to be rooted in God, resting on Him, drawing from Him His vitality and direction.
• The mind filled with God, the will surrendered to Him, the body and social relations abandoned to him.
• “Underneath are the everlasting arms.”
UNREST OF SOUL
• Is carrying your life on your own.
• Doing your work entirely by your own abilities: the “flesh.”
• Why: “Cursed is the man … who makes flesh his strength.” (Jer. 17:5)
• The warfare of desires. (James 4:1-3)
THREE THINGS TO HELP US
TO REST IN LIFE AND WORK
1. Knowing Who We Are and Our Part in What God Is Doing on Earth.
2. Knowing What We Work With and How It Takes “The Pressure Off.”
3. Knowing What We Can Do To “Abide in the Vine” and “Bear Much Fruit.”
We will deal with these in that order:
Paul learned he could step into a situation and trust God to be there
WHO WE ARE AND WHERE
GOD IS GOING WITH US
• Let’s begin with the end: “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13:43; cp Daniel 12:3) Really! What’s that like?
• What was God’s purpose in creating human beings? That they should rule in his power.
(Gen. 1:26, Ps. 8:6, Heb. 2:5-8, Rev. 22:5)
'Let us make man in our image ...' i.e., to have dominion
RULING WITH “RICHES IN GLORY IN CHRIST JESUS”
• What is “glory”? It is effulgence of power, the radiance of power. Power present!
• Since it is God’s power, it is the radiance of goodness as well.
• It is the manifest presence of God.
• It becomes in scripture a name for the invisible realm of God, His kingdom.
Closely associated with “light.”
SOME HELPFUL VERSES:
1. Transfiguration. Seeing the kingdom. Luke 9:27-31, cp. II Peter 1:16-18.
Jesus said the day before some here will not die before they see the Kingdom
2. “Tongues as of fire..resting on each one. Acts 2:3
3. Paul’s experience of Christ. Acts 26:13
4. “His glorious body…” Phil. 3:21
5. “The might of his glory…” Col. 1:11
6. “An eternal weight of glory…” II Cor. 4:17
7. “The glory to be revealed in us…” Rom. 8:18
8. What creation is “anxiously longing” for
(19)…stepping into “the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” vss 20-21
9. The redeemed people in the eternal future.
Eph. 2:7 & 3:10 with Rev. 22:5
(Query: Adam/Eve’s pre-fall Clothes?)
YOU ARE…
• An unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.
• Spiritual in substance, yet incarnational.
• Never-ceasing in duration
• Creative Governance—”Reigning”—in destiny.
'Training for reigning'
When you get old, your life has hardly begun.
“THERE ARE NO ORDINARY PEOPLE”
“You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal;… But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors…. Next to the blessed sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” The Weight of Glory, (Eerdmans ed. P. 15)
“NEVER TASTE DEATH…”
Jesus’ teachings about death (John 8:51-52, 11:25-26) and the New Testament teaching that he destroyed death (II Tim. 1:10) are not just about death, but about who we are: He “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (1:10)
GOD’S INTENT…
GOD’S INTENT FOR EACH OF US IS THAT WE SHOULD GROW IN CHARACTER AND ABILITY TO THE POINT WHERE HE CAN EMPOWER US TO DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO.
THE WORK HERE IS ON OUR “WANTER.” WE ARE NOW TRAINING FOR REIGNING MORE AND MORE.
OUR LIFE IS HID--
• “With Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3)
• A part of God’s strategy in “hiding Himself” (Isa. 45:15) He is so great He must hide from us to enable us to flee from Him.
• “When Christ who is our life shall appear, they you also shall appear with him, glorious.” (Col. 3:4)
“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matt. 13:43)
REST YOUR SOUL ON THIS AND RECEIVE PEACE, JOY AND STRENGTH FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY!
--am I not called to be a pastor now, where I am, and just not have the complication of being paid for it and people having a claim on me and criticizing me? it's like tentmaking, and I don't have to have a bad attitude about my job. and my flock surely begins with my Sunday school class...
2. Knowing What We Work With, and How It Takes “The Pressure Off” [view presentation slides]
REVIVE YOUR SOUL #2
Knowing What We Work With, and How It Takes “The Pressure Off”
ministers over time should expect to receive from X profundity of insight, sweetness of character and abundance of power
what we are is what ministers. the most important thing is who we are. what God gets out of our life is the person we become, that lasts forever
people will remember who we are but forget almost all of what we say (yet we spend most of our time thinking up things to say)
THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE YOKE
• To be yoked to Jesus means to pull our load in life and ministry with him.
• He has say over all things in heaven and earth and is with us always. Matt. 28:18-20
• Our resources are always adequate to what he wants accomplished where we are.
• Our part is to understand this and put it into practice. Cp. Prov. 3: 5-7
we don't rest in the sense of passing out but in becoming vital
--c.f. Ps 23 He restores my soul. Laniak translates 'he restores my vitality'
THE SNARE OF TALENTS AND ATTAINMENTS
• The crushing burden is to try to carry our load in life in terms of our abilities and our attainments.
What‟s on our “Bio,” our Resume. Don't trust it!
• Paul: “I will boast about my weaknesses …for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
• The action with us of Christ and his Kingdom is our resource at all times and what we must carefully practice the presence and use of it.
SOME OLD TESTAMENT LESSONS IN “WITH”
• Moses and his staff. Ex. 4:2-4
What is that in your hand? We have to work with what we have and it's always not enough
God didn't use the staff until Moses turned it loose. And then he had to pick it up again.
• Joshua. Deut. 31:6, Josh. 1:9
both Moses and Joshua were meek, which means relying on God
• David on Goliath. I Sam. 17:47
• In battle. Ps. 18:29
• The battle is the Lord's. II Chron. 20:17
• What Nicodemus didn't know. John 3:10
THE GOOD NEWS: LIFE NOW IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD
• If we would live in the resources of Jesus, we must preach what he preached in the manner he preached it.
• “Repent, for the Kingdom of the Heavens is right here now ("at hand‟).” Matt. 4:17
think about your thinking (metanoete)
• His three-fold practice: Preach, Manifest, and Teach. Matt. 4:22 & 9:35, Luke 4:43.
the Kingdom is at hand, and if you put your confidence in Him, you go in
preach, proclaim, put up Gospel graffiti
manifestation in extraordinary works is natural when the Kingdom is present
teaching is the hardest part b/c you have to understand to teach
THE HUGE TRANSITION
• Everyone pressing into the Kingdom. No “formalities” Matt. 11:11-12, Luke 16:16
the Kingdom comes by violence and the violent take it by force
• “The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and be given to a people bringing forth the fruits of the Kingdom.” Matt 21:43
• Who “administers” the Kingdom? Jesus Christ himself. The one “with us.” His direct availability.
WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
• It is God acting, what God is doing. His “reigning.”
• It is where what God wants done is done.
• It is the range of his effective will.
the greatest danger to God's Kingdom in my life is my Kingdom
• It is not a political or social reality, not even the “Church.” Not the millennial reign.
• It is an everlasting metaphysical reality, the natural home of the soul: God and his reign.
NOT TWO GOSPELS
• The New Testament Gospel of Jesus is the same as the Gospel about Jesus (e.g. by Paul).
• It is, simply, trust Jesus, count on him, put your confidence in him. Totally.
• Through reliance on him for everything, including the forgiveness of our sins, we know the sufficiency of God to our life and our work. We live in the Kingdom.
• “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Matt 6:33 What that means.
look everywhere for God's reign. like seeking your keys. everything else you need will be added
COMING TOGETHER IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
the apostles and Paul finding the unity of the Kingdom and Jesus
• What Jesus was still teaching in Acts for forty days: The Kingdom of God. Acts 1:3
• What the disciples were learning. Acts 3:6 (get up and walk) and 8:12 (Philip preaching in Samaria. what was the Gospel? the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus)
• Paul's constant message. Acts 20:21 & 25, 28:23 & 31
• Jesus puts a face on the Kingdom, the Kingdom gives Trinitarian substance to Jesus.
if you have either Jesus or the Kingdom without the other, you will get it wrong
gradually the church (in the NT) is coming to terms with the greatness of Jesus. culminates in Rev.
THE KINGDOM WORD DOES THE WORK
• Sowing and growing. Mark 4:26-29 & 4:3-20 (Matt 13:3-23)
the plant comes up he knows not how
there is a Word the does the work. I could give up trying to get people to do things
• The sower sows the word of the Kingdom. Mark 4:14/Matt. 13:19
• The word does the work. “The pressure's off!”
• We simply practice the three-fold activity. preach, manifest and teach
PAUL'S EXPERIENCE WITH THE WORD
• “…all the things God had done with them, and that he had opened the door of faith…” Acts 14:27
• The Thessalonians (I Thes. 1:4-5)
• The Corinthians (I Cor. 2:1-5, and II Cor. 3:12 (having such a hope we speak with plainness) and 10:10 (rap on Paul: heavy letters, unimpressive in person, awful speaker))
ancient orators were not expected to say true things, just to be impressive. but Paul wouldn't play that game
• The Kingdom in the Church. Rom 14:17 (the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the HS)
ALTERNATIVE "GOSPELS‟ TODAY
• If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, they will be forgiven. That's all. Conservative sin-management "gospel‟
• God is in favor of justice and liberation, and you can join him by taking action. That's all. Liberal sin-management "gospel‟
• Take care of your church and it will take care of you. Church sin-management gospel
THESE GOSPELS…
• Leave out the easy-yoke life, except as an option which some may choose.
• Do not have a natural tendency to lead into discipleship to Jesus.
• Account for the current acceptance of being a Christian without being an Apprentice of Jesus.
• Make the after-life vacuous, fantastic or unreal.
• Make the life og ministry hard if not impossible.
THE RESULT WE HAVE ON HAND TODAY
Is the direct result of the message we live and preach. ---
“Your system is perfectly designed to yield the result you are getting.”
Jesus did not leave us with inadequate provision to accomplish his objectives in our life and in the people we minister to.
JESUS' GOSPEL, BY CONTRAST
• Leads into whole-life discipleship—learning to live our lives in the kingdom of God as he would lead our lives if he were we—
• Not just Consumer Christians.
• And into the progressive transformation of human personality from inside out, all the dimensions of the self.
• Yielding a radiant church, the saints in light. Col. 1:12 & Eph. 5:8-9.
“THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S…”
• We simply present the Kingdom in life and word as he did. This is our part. We must do it.
• Get out of the performance role and into the reliance role. Disregard “success.” Paul's inability to perform. II Cor. 10:10
• Do the best we can, but never trust that.
• “Stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.” II Chron. 20:17
• “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” Phil. 4:4
3. What We Must Do To “Abide in the Vine.” Our Practices for Soul Rest and Vitality [view presentation slides]
REVIVE YOUR SOUL #3
What We Must Do To “Abide in the Vine.” Our Practices for Soul Rest and Vitality
WE MUST ACT AND ACT WISELY UNDER GRACE
• Col. 3:5-17
• II Peter 1:2-11
• Phil. 2:12-16
Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning. “Boasting is excluded.” Rom 3:27
The Golden Triangle of Spiritual Growth
The Action of the Holy Spirit
John 3:5, Rom. 8:10-13, Gal. 5:22-26
Centered in the Mind of Christ
Phil 2:12-15, Rom. 13:14
Ordinary Events of Life: “Temptations”
James 1:2-4, Rom. 5:1-5
Planned Discipline to Put on a New Heart
Col. 3:12-17, 2: Pet. 1:5-10
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR GROWTH IN GRACE
• YOU MUST SELECT ACTIVITIES THAT CHANGE YOU UNDER GRACE.
• YOU MUST PLAN ON BEING DIFFERENT.
• THIS IS NOT ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BUT WISDOM UNDER GOD.
• TO NOT DO THIS IS TO PLAN TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY.
OBEDIENCE IS NOT LEGALISM—”WORKS”
• THE AIM IS NOT TO DO (OR NOT DO) THE DEED. (E.G.,NOT KILL, LIE, ETC.)
• THAT IS THE WAY OF THE PHARISEE
• ALWAYS LEADS TO FAILURE AND TO HYPOCRISY. (LUKE 12:1)
• BECAUSE IT DOES NOT CHANGE WHO YOU ARE ON “THE INSIDE.”
“CLEANING THE INSIDE OF THE CUP.” (Matt. 23:25)
• If you would keep the Jesus’ teaching, don’t aim at that, but at becoming the kind of person who naturally (supernaturally of course) does that: Routinely, easily!!!
• The source of good and evil in human life is the human “heart.” (Mark 7:21-23, Luke 6:43-45, Prov. 4:23)
• And then all of the parts of the human self.
WHO IS THE DISCIPLE?
• ONE WHO TRUSTS JESUS CHRIST FOR EVERYTHING, KNOWING HE IS INDEED THE LORD OF LIFE, MASTER OF EVERYTHING.
• ONE WHO IS WITH HIM, LEARNING FROM HIM HOW TO LEAD THEIR LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS HE WOULD LEAD THEIR LIFE IF HE WERE THEY.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR GROWTH IN GRACE
• YOU MUST SELECT ACTIVITIES THAT CHANGE YOU UNDER GRACE.
• YOU MUST PLAN ON BEING DIFFERENT.
• THIS IS NOT ACTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BUT WISDOM UNDER GOD.
• TO NOT DO THIS IS TO PLAN TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY.
going to church should be one. if you're going to grow in grace in going to church you have to go in devotion to Christ and service to His people.
DISCIPLINES FOR FULL LIFE IN CHRIST
• A DISCIPLINE IS SOMETHING IN MY POWER THAT ENABLES ME TO DO WHAT I CANNOT DO BY DIRECT EFFORT.
• STILL VALID IN THE REALM OF GRACE. “MEANS OF GRACE”
disciplines are grace. they're wisdom. if you don't do what you planned (e.g. memorization or fasting), it's not a sin. otherwise, you'll become legalistic
• ILLUSTRATION. (JOSH. 1:8, MATT. 26:41)
Josh 1.8 - worth more than any college education. it guarantees success. you can pay thousands of dollars for a college education and not guarantee success
• FOLLOWING JESUS INTO HIS PRACTICES.
disciplines of abstinence and engagement
never try to be heroic. it'll be bad for your ego. you'll think you're a failure.
Solitude is the choice and practice of being alone, being apart from the press of the usual human connections.
Sabbath and doing nothing. Long periods
Two Forms of Silence
• No Noise. Quietness
• Not Talking
experimental. you have to do them long enough to get used enough to do it
the Sabbath is made for man. it's good for us. do nothing at all. walk, lie down. sit. don't try to accomplish anything.
Fasting is actually feasting upon God, being nourished by God.
that's why Jesus said we won't be miserable
practice to the point that grace will move in your heart to a point where you will stop thinking about them and they just become part of your life.
Frugality as a discipline consists in abstaining from using money or goods at our disposal in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, glamour, or luxury.
not the same as stinginess (or we'll hurt our families). need to practice celebration with frugality and fasting
simplicity comes into your life.
In Study we focus our mind upon something to bring its substance and order into our mind and from there into the rest of our life.
JOSH. 1:8 THE IMPORTANCE OF MEMORIZATION
'Scripture memorization and fasting have been most important to me'
Worship is the act and state of ascribing greatness to God in every respect:
Especially in immensity and in goodness, in knowledge and in power.
How Does One Practice The Disciplines?
• Decide to live as Jesus’ student
• Begin to obey His teachings
• Observe why you fail
• Do in reliance on the Spirit what will remove the causes of failure – These
will be DISCIPLINES
ALL HE TAUGHT IS GOOD AND POSSIBLE
• Not as law, but as expressions of kingdom living now inhabiting us.
• “Beyond the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.” Matt. 5:20
• Examples of anger, contempt and looking to lust or “cultivated lusting.” Matt 5:22-30
• The transformation of the mind. Rom. 12:2
ABIDE IN THE VINE…
• “If you continue/abide/live in my word, then you really are my disciples, and you shall know—live interactively—with the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32
• Free from what? The power of sin.
• We abide by practicing the disciplines for the spiritual life, by following Jesus into his practices.
• We thus “work out our individual deliverance with fear and trembling.” Phil. 2:12
THE LIFE OF JESUS IN US SEEN IN SCRIPTURES
• IT’S ALL TRUE
• IT WORKS
• IT’S ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE WHO WILL PUT THEIR CONFIDENCE IN JESUS AS THE LORD OF GLORY.
• THERE IS NOTHING ON EARTH TO COMPARE WITH IT.
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