The Plowman

Introduction:
We began this series awhile back with me saying that God is at work in every Christian.  That is the reason for the hope we have.  That is the basis of our assurance.  Because the One who began a good work in us will complete, we are assured of future glory.  It is not left up to us.  We do not save ourselves - God saves.  The same grace that brought life to us brings sanctification or holiness.  Every Christian will bear fruit.  Jesus said if you abide in me, and I in you, you will bear fruit.  I am the vine you are the branches.  Life is in the vine.  Thus He said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”

So all of that to say, when God saves us He begins a work in us.  Salvation, or better conversion, is only the beginning.  We are to press on toward holiness.  Being conformed to the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus.  The promise of Scripture is that we will grow in holiness.  That our appetite for the things of God will increase.  Because God works in us “both to will and to do” (Phil. 2:13).  He gives us both the desire and the ability.  We cannot fail.  We will ultimately be presented to the Father pure and spotless because of Christ and because of God’s gracious work in us.

Now here is the question.  If that is true.  If God is at work in every Christian and if every Christian grows in holiness and righteousness does that mean all Christians are alike?  Are we all the same?  It is the same God, with the same power, moving toward the same goal - are we the same?  It seems like a logical question.  I heard about a young lady who thought everyone would be the same in heaven.  After all the Bible says when we see Jesus we will be like Him.  She took that to mean we would have the same appearance and we would know the same things.  I’ve heard others speculate that in heaven everyone is 33 years old because that’s how old Jesus was when He died.  What does the Bible mean when it says, “We will be like Him?”

A God of Endless Variety

Then what does it mean when it says we will be like Him?

So what difference does the differences make?

What does it all mean?
While we have a responsibility to love and encourage one another and while it is good, right and necessary for us to rebuke and instruct one another - growth and rewards are God’s business not ours!

You have no right to judge another man.

You have enough to worry about considering your own life and growth.

At the same time don’t be discourage if your fruit doesn’t match another’s.  Don’t worry if you lack the understanding that another has.  Continue to strive with the understanding that God is at work in you and therefore you cannot fail.  You will not be judged according to another’s works but according to yours.  You will not give an account for why someone achieved something that you did not.  Were you faithful to what God called you to?  That’s all that matters.  Leave it in His hands and rejoice because He is at work in you.

Introduction:
It was just so funny.  I laughed and nudged the man next to me as we both nodded in agreement about the truth being spoken.  A man was talking about why people go into the counseling profession.  He talked about the “make up” of those who choose to go into psychology and psychiatry and everything he said had the ring of truth about it.  They have problems themselves and this is a way of getting help without having to admit they have a problem.  They have hang ups and they assume everyone else does too.  I found it all very funny and obviously true - these people have real problems.  Then he said, “Keep laughing because I’m about to tell you why you are a preacher.”  It wasn’t funny anymore.  Now he’s gone too far.  “You like standing in front of everyone in your elevated position looking down on those poor sinners.  You get a chance to rail against the sins that plague you but it’s someone else’s problem.”  I was getting a little uncomfortable.  The guy next to me was no longer smiling.  Neither of us nudged the other we both just looked at the floor.  It does seem a bit arrogant doesn’t it?  I mean to stand and say, “Thus saith the Lord.”  It takes a lot of nerve to speak for the Almighty!

There is a sense in which I’m very uncomfortable doing what I do.  I am painfully aware of my black heart and my sinful mind.  So I certainly understand those who wonder if we really need preachers.  Do we really need teachers to tell us what this book says?  Are those who say, “I’ve got my Bible and the Holy Spirit - that’s all I need” right?  Are they on to something?  I’m convinced we do need teachers and I believe both Scripture and history bears that out.

A Foundational Text
Listen to the apostle Paul in his words to the church at Corinth: And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28

A Note of Caution

• Acts 17:11
• James 3:1
• 1 Timothy 3:6

A Sobering Text
Hear the words of Paul from an often misunderstood and misapplied text.  1 Corinthians 3:9-15:

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Hear Paul again - 1 Corinthians 3:6 - I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
Or Isaiah 55:11 - so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

What Does It All Mean?
Yes we need teachers that is why God has given them to the church.

What is your responsibility?

• To listen with a discerning ear and search these Scripture for truth.
• To pray for those who are your teachers.
  • That God would open their eyes, minds, hearts to the truth
  • That they be faithful to the Scripture

• Pray that God will continue to call and raise up teachers even from your own children.

It also means we need each other. We are a team.

Introduction:
One of the struggles of the Christian life is dealing with those things that seem to be in conflict.  As a Christian I desire one thing but I do another.  You remember the apostle Paul’s struggle with that in Romans chapter 7: For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Finally in desperation he cries out, Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

That’s not pre-conversion Paul that is Paul the apostle of Christ talking about his present struggle.  Can you relate to what he is saying?  Now I stopped with verse 24.  Who will deliver me?  Verse 25 begins, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” It is no accident that the next chapter begins, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” So you have Paul on the one hand crying out due to his on-going struggle with sin and on the other his affirmation that nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

We are told on the one hand if we live in sin we do not belong to Him and yet, on the other, if we say we are without sin we are liars.  For the last several weeks we’ve been talking about the life we are called to live.  I’ve been saying that God is at work in His people.  We are assured that He who began the work in us will complete it.  Our security is in God’s hand.  He will not lose us.  He will not give up on us.  He will not fail to deliver us pure and spotless before His throne.  Thus all Christians are characteristically or habitually righteous yet we sin daily.  How can both be true?

This is where the confusion comes in and this is where so many get discouraged and depressed about their faith.  Every Christian who is growing in holiness is increasingly aware of their sinfulness.  That seems contradictory.  You would think that as you grow in holiness you would be less and less corrupt.  Now hear me.  I’m not saying the more you grow in holiness the more corrupt you become.  I said the more you grow in holiness the more aware you are of your sinfulness.  You knew you were a sinner when you started but the further along you go you begin to understand just how sinful you were to begin with!

As a means of encouragement I want to again remind you of what God has to say about the Christian and sin.

An Important First Principle
Let me say from the outset that too often we fail to recognize a fundamental truth.  We sometimes fail to see any difference between the believer and the nonbeliever.  We preachers tend to bemoan the fact that there is no difference between those who belong to Christ and those who are in the world.  Of course we are talking about perception rather than reality but we don’t often make the distinction.

So let me do that right now: CHRISTIANS AND NON-CHRISTIANS ARE COMPLETELY, UTTERLY DIFFERENT.

To look at them you may or may not see a difference.
At times you may not even notice a difference in their behavior.
At times you may think the non-believer is a better person than the believer.
You may like the non-believer more than you like the believer!
But mark it down they are fundamentally and radically different.

How so?
A Christian often pleases God.
A non-Christian never pleases God.

Everything the non-believer does is sin - everything, without exception!

Romans 8:6-8

Hebrews say, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”  Paul is even more explicit in Romans 14:23, “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

Paul said in Romans 3:12, “There in no one who does good, not even one.”  But it appears otherwise to us.  You know unsaved people who do “good” things.  But for an act to be good it must arise from good motives.  In fact it must be motivated by a desire to bring glory to God.  We are told in 1 Corinthians that, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Anything less is sin.
It is unpleasing to God.

So you see there is a great gulf between the saved and the unsaved man.  One often pleases God the other never pleases Him.

The Christian and His Sin
Sin’s Grief
Our sins are many.  We must not deny that.  At times we are overwhelmed by the number and the depth of our sin.  Here is the difference - we are grieved by our sin.

Not so for the unsaved man.  Oh, he may be grieved over the consequences of his sin but not the sin itself.  He may despise what it does to his family.  He may be upset because he failed to live up to a standard he had set.  But he would be content to live in his sin if it didn’t bear such bitter fruit.

The Christian, on the other hand, hates his sin.  Thus he is involved in life-long repentance.  He longs to not grieve the heart of God.  So when he fails his grief is greater each day.

The Sinning Christian’s Prayer
Because our sins are many, God has provided great forgiveness.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

But wait, aren’t we supposed to name our sins?
Yes, provided we know what they are.
Here is the problem - I don’t know all my sins.
The psalmist asked, “Who can discern his errors…forgive my hidden faults.”
Yet I can pray, in confidence, “Lord forgive all my sins” and trust His grace.

God is at work in you and has been since the moment you were awaken to the truth of the Gospel.  He has been remaking you.  He is reforming you.  He is perfecting you and He will not stop until the work is done and you are presented to the Heavenly Father without spot or blemish.  Christian take heart!

Introduction:
What do you need to live the Christian life?  What is required for you to live in obedience to Christ’s commands and walk humbly before Him?  It is clear there is more to the Christian life then just accepting a set of doctrinal beliefs.  There is more to it than to intellectually agree that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world.  It is not enough even to believe that He died on the cross or even that He died on the cross for your sins.  It is not enough to believe He died and rose triumphantly from the grave!  You must believe in Him.  You must put your faith and trust in Him.

To believe or to trust is to rely upon Him.
It is to say, “I am trusting wholly in Christ.  I have no backup.  If He can’t save me I’m lost.”
Okay, that’s what is means to be saved but what about holiness?
What about living the faith?

Well that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in and the church and Bible Study and prayer and discipleship and fellowship and accountability groups and the gifts of the Spirit and all of those things that God promises and gives.  Be careful!

If you are thinking along these lines you are dangerously close to heresy.
You are close to stepping over the line.
You see the problem is when you say there is something else you need you are suggesting Christ is not enough.

In essences you are saying, “Being saved is great.  That gets you ‘in the door’ but it’s nothing compared to the victorious life or the spirit-filled life.”  Such talk puts Christ in second place and that is a dangerous thing.  I don’t believe that any Christian would intentionally downgrade the Lord Jesus but we do it unintentionally when think or say we need something more than Christ to be all God wants us to be.

When something is sufficient it “meets the need.”  It supplies all that is missing.  Now, is Christ sufficient to restore our relationship with God?  Is Christ all we need to put us in right standing with the Creator of the universe?  Or is there something more?

What do the Scriptures say?

• Colossians 2:9-10
• Romans 8:9
• 1 Cor 1:30

Whoever accepts me, Jesus said, accepts the one who sent me (John 13:20).
All that you will ever need to live the Christ life is given to you in Christ.
You do not need a “second blessing.”
You do not need a subsequent experience.
You need Christ.

Wait!  No Christian is as wise as he should be, nor as dedicated, nor free from sin.  Isn’t that proof there is something more?

That is a logical question but it fails to recognize something else plainly taught in the Scripture.  We are not born full grown!  Our need to grow in these areas demonstrates that God gives out His good things over our lifetime.

That is why we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - 2 Peter 3:18.
And we all grow at a different pace and to different degrees.

What harm is there in thinking there is something more?

What was the problem at Galatia?
They were preaching a Jesus plus theology.
They were looking for something more.
It is God’s will that Christ rescue us from this present evil age (1:4).

Paul was writing to a church that was drifting from the Gospel.  They were drifting toward something more.  How did Paul address the crisis?  He preached Christ.  It was not his place, it was not his job to determine who is and is not saved.  It was his job to preach Christ.  The rest is God’s business.

What is the work of the Spirit?

John 16:14-15

The work of the Spirit is to lead men to a greater appreciation of Christ.  To make an experience with the Spirit a step beyond Christ is to miss the point entirely.  “He will bring glory to me,” said Jesus.  There is no knowledge higher than the knowledge of Christ.

The writer of Hebrews says Christ is the means of our holiness - Hebrews 10:16; 13:20-21.

Christ is all we need.

Wait!  If God guarantees our progress, why all the commands and why am I to strive to be holy?

We are not machines.
It is relational.

We do not all progress at the same rate.
God uses commands as one of the means of accomplishing His work.

Conclusion

To seek something more than Christ is heresy.
But what do we do when the battle is too heavy?
What do we do when the sledding is tough and we just can’t make it?

Jesus answers that for us: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Christ is all you need!

Introduction:

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit’s call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

The guy that wrote that must have been some kind of nut!  Is he kidding?  When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail…I shall prevail?  Overcoming daily?  Is that your experience?  Oh, its a great song.  I love to sing it but come on - when I sing it I know I’m lying.  Do you ever feel like that?  Do you ever feel like a hypocrite because your confession bears little resemblance to your actual life?

I hope you know I have my tongue firmly in my check as I make these comments.  But my point is we all struggle with living our faith consistently.  I want to deal with this because I don’t wont you to misunderstand what I’ve been trying to say for the last 5 weeks on Sunday evening.  Please don’t hear me say, “You must be perfect or you are not a Christian.”  Or, “You must trust Jesus and you must remain faithfully committed all the time or your faith is a sham!”  No, that’s not what I’m saying.

• I’m saying it is not enough to say you are a Christian.
• It is not enough to say you are trusting Jesus.
• Genuine faith, saving faith, is followed by works.
• Salvation is conversion - it is change.

If you say you believe but your life is no different, your desires do not change, sin does not break your heart, you have no hunger or thirst for righteousness - there is a problem!  You would do well to explore that problem and test your faith to see if it is in deed genuine.

• What are we to do?
• How do we find our way through this mess?
• Let me just remind you again this evening of some of the things God has said about his children.
• All of which serve to remind us, “Christian take heart!  God is at work in you.”

Ephesians 2:19-22
Or consider Colossians 2:19

Let me give you what I think is the most important thing you can learn as a Christian related to spiritual growth and development.  God does not ask His people to initiate the work in their own lives.  Rather He calls us to fall in with whatever He is already doing.

Listen to Philippians 2:12
Look at the next verse 2:13 - for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Paul is confident you can work out your own salvation because God is already at work in you to do that very thing!

Or Romans 6:13
How?  6:14

But how can I be sure I’ll do that?

6:22
1 Thessalonians 2:12-13
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10

God is at work in you.
We find the same themes in Paul’s prayers - 2 Thessalonians 1:11; Philippians 1:9-11.

Because God is at work in us we come across some strange passages in the NT.  Consider James 1:2.  That makes no sense unless God is at work in us.

What has God said?
“You have been set free from sin” - Romans 6:22
“We see in you the things that accompany salvation” - Hebrews 6:9
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome [false spirits]” - 1 John 4:4
Why?
“Because greater is He who is in you that he that is in the world.” - 1 John 4:4

Christian take heart!

Introduction:
Even though I grew up here in Tulsa, the Charismatic capital, I was not confronted with the issues of being “Spirit-filled” until I was in college.  It just wasn’t an issue in the crowd I ran with.  But in college as we were seeking to understand the Faith and come to our own convictions about what the Bible taught we started reading books and listening to tapes by some folks who were not part of “our crowd.”  This was in the late 70s and early 80s as the charisamatic movement was making its way out of Pentecostalism and into mainstream.  The Jesus Movement of the late 60s and early 70s was beginning to have a larger impact.  Peter Wagner and the church growth movement out of Fuller Seminary was talking about “spiritual gift inventories” and other tools to help people discover their gifts and find places of ministry in the church.  There was a movement among Southern Baptist begun by some men who had had an “experience” with the Spirit.  Fulness conferences featured men who wanted Southern Baptist to understand that the miracle working God of the New Testament hadn’t gone away.  He was still in business and His power was great.  Books, tracts and tapes were in abundance telling how you could be filled with the Spirit.  Was there excess?  Of course, there always will be when certain aspects of truth are “rediscovered.”  I have to say I greatly benefited from many of those teachers.  On the whole I think it was good for us.  For too long Southern Baptist were so afraid of getting out on a limb with the Holy Spirit - we wouldn’t even get in the tree!

As “people of the book” we have nothing to fear from the third person of the Trinity.  Any movement or teaching that causes us to go back to Scripture and seek understanding is a good thing.  But what about this question of being “Spirit-filled?”

Are their Spirit-filled Christians and then regular Christians?
Is there a “second blessing” subsequent to salvation?
These are important questions and they are deserving of honest, biblical answers.
I Googled “spirit-filled” and found there were 121,000,000 related items!

I was greatly comforted to find a site that walked me through some simple easy steps to being “Spirit-filled.”  Of course the sight began by explaining that there are three kinds of people: the natural man - he is the lost man without Christ in his life; the spiritual man with Christ on the throne of his life directing and empowering all things; and then there is the carnal man - the man who “allows” Christ in his life but he (the man) is on the throne and Christ is off to the side.

I don’t believe such a division is biblical but we’ll come back to that a little later.

Let’s start with some definitions.

Are all believers Spirit-filled or is it only certain believers?

That’s not a simple answer.  By that I mean it is not a yes or no kind of answer.  I say that because the Bible speaks of “filling” in a couple of different ways.  There is a filling for service and a filling for sanctification.  They are different and they have a different purpose.  Let’s look at each.

The Filling for Service.

Filling for Sanctification.

WAIT A MINUTE - WHAT ABOUT EPHESIANS 5:18?

What About Fruit?

Introduction:
I remember during my college years a time when the latest and hottest teaching among evangelical believers was that of “positional” truths.  The truth of who you are in Christ.  That positionally you are one with Christ.  You died with Christ.  You were raised with Christ.  You are seated with Christ in glory.  No matter what you might think, how you might feel, what you might experience - you are holy, you are a child of God, you are forgiven, pure, and righteous.  You are not just a sinner saved by grace you are a son of the living God.  The problem with such teaching was that it separated those who were Christians from those who were “really Christians.”  You had those who walked in victory and power and then you had those who just survived in the Christian ghetto.  It was a variation on a theme.  Another manifestation of this same notion was the “Deeper Life Movement.”  In the Deeper Life Movement you had those who were saved but they played in the shallow end of the pool.  Others launched out into the deep and toiled with the deep and wonderful things of God.  Or you might talk about those who “trust Jesus as their Savior” and those who “make Jesus Lord.”  Two distinct groups within the Christian family.

I certainly understand this desire to explain how you have these distinctions within Christianity.  Among those who name the name of Christ there is a wide discrepancy.  There are those who are actively in pursuit of spiritual knowledge and who desire growth in holiness and other the other hand you have those who are “satisfied” in their faith and see no need for growth and have no desire to increase in holiness.  How can that be?  As we have come to think of salvation in terms of “decision” rather than “conversion” we have to find an explanation for how some can be saved and yet have no love for or interest in the church.  We have to explain how a person can be saved and yet give no evidence of new life.

The answer must be that you have two kinds of Christians.  If that is not the answer we would have to accept the idea that there are many “false professors” on our rolls.  It is easier and more palatable to believe the former.  Unfortunately truth cannot be determined by whether or not it is sweet to our palate.  Truth is determined by what God has declared, revealed or made known.  In dealing with matters of truth we must always ask, “What do the Scriptures say?”  “What has God said?”

• An often misunderstood and misapplied text: John 15:4-5.
• Are there abiding and non-abiding believers?
• A word of caution and conclusion.

Introduction:
Do you ever struggle with your faith? I don’t mean that you are crippled by the feeling that you’re not a Christian or that you are somehow beyond salvation. I mean that you believe, you’ve turned from your sin and trusted in Christ but you are constantly frustrated by your lack of spiritual development or growth. Do you ever think, “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I witness more? Why don’t I speak up? How come I can read my Bible faithfully and yet not see what others see?” Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and think, “You are one spiritual pigmy?” I sometimes feel like the dimwitted member of the family that everyone loves and yet pities. I’m often frustrated by my repeated failures in certain areas of sin. I frequently need a kick in the spiritual pants to move me from inaction to action. Why is that? I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling. What are we to do with those feelings of spiritual inadequacy and stunted spiritual growth? Do we ignore them and press on? Do we assume them to be indicators that there are serious issues with our faith? Are they a warnings that we are about to “run aground” spiritually? Or, is it just part of the ebb and flow of sanctification?

These are questions that are deserving of answers. Left unanswered by will lead to spiritual depression and have the potential to cast you adrift in your faith.

I dealing with these questions we must begin by understanding that the Christian life is not difficult…it’s down right impossible! You cannot live the faith, and you were never intended to. The Christian life is well beyond your abilities. The secret is Christ in you the hope, the assurance of glory. There is only one who has ever lived the Christian life and He lives it again and again in the lives of His people. Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” What does God expect from you? Nothing! He is the vine we are the branches. It is only when we are connected to Him, the life-giving force, that any fruit will be produced.

The second thing, and the one I want to focus on this evening, is that you must understand that God is at work in you. Do you belong to Christ? Have you put your faith and trust in Him? Are you believing, are you trusting Him today? If you are take heart. Be encouraged. God is at work in you.

The Scriptures make it clear God has always been at work in His people. That was true in the days of the Old Testament, the New Testament and it is true today. God has never left it up to His people to become spiritual or holy. Rather He has been active in them to make them habitually godly. He is forever at work in them conforming them to His image and likeness. And He never fails. Be encouraged.

• Listen to Psalm 1:
• Consider Psalm 15:

Don’t lose sight of God’s promise about the coming of Christ.

Let’s consider some of God’s promises.

• Philippians 2:12-13
• Philippians 1:6
• Ephesians 2:8-9
  But that is not the end of Paul’s thought. We stop there - Paul did not!
• Ephesians 2:10 - key = “created in Christ Jesus…”

The life of the Christian is characterized by righteousness but marred by sin.

One last thing - 2 Peter 2:22

The point of all of this is Christian - take heart. Be encouraged. God is at work in you!