Lessons in Sanctification

 

1 Timothy 4:7 – train yourself for the purpose of godliness,

Sanctification is to be the primary pursuit of the Christian life. Everything else flows out of that.

1 Timothy 6:2 – Timothy’s instructions regarding what we find in Chapter 6 –  Teach and exhort these things

The first three lessons:

1. Sanctification in our Work

Wherever you work, from a factory floor worker to a fortune 500 executive, you are to regard your boss (supervisor, manager, etc.) as worthy of ALL honor. If he or she is a believer - even more so.

If your boss was asked “who’s your best employee?” Would your name come up?

If your co-workers were asked, who’s your favorite co-worker?” Would they mention you?

John MacArthur says, Your work is either praise or blasphemy.

If you’re not at least in the running to be best employee… If you’re not a joy to work with to all your co-workers…

What needs to change?

What do you need to do before showing up for work tomorrow?

What do you need to do different this week?

Your job is a significant part of your life and a factor in your sanctification. 

The next two things woven together here.

2. The Jewel of Contentment

verse 6 stands out in a very compelling way

It’s right alongside what Paul says in 

Philippians 2:14-15 – Do all things without grumbling or disputing, ¹⁵ so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

 

Contentment, the opposite of grumbling, disputing, complaining, criticizing, murmuring, etc. is a means of great gain. When we live contented lives we shine as lights in the world and we bring glory to God

It adds weight and authenticity to the gospel we claim to believe

Rather than murmuring, which the Bible calls rebellion, we need to remember that we’re children of the King of Heaven, 

who has literally every resource at His disposal. Who owns the cattle on 1,000 hills, but who is also the One in whom ALL wisdom resides

The One who is the very definition of love

When we are discontent, we’re complaining against God and His plan. 

We question His wisdom, 

Doubt His power, 

And deny His mercy

Contentment, however is worship

Highlighting the power of grace in affliction

Preparing the soul to receive mercy

Turning our hearts away from our own selfish desires and points us to what God has so richly provided.

3. Defcon 1

We must always be prepared for the assault that false teaching brings. The false prosperity gospel appeals to our flesh. It strokes the lure of materialism that we all struggle with. 

With the prosperity “gospel,” Jesus becomes some sort of genie in a bottle and God is turned into a cosmic slot machine.

But the gospel is not about the physical or the material. The gospel doesn’t save you from, poverty, sickness, or adversity.

The gospel saves you from sin.

Here’s the question:

(Be ready for me to call you this week & ask)

How are you growing theologically?

What are you doing, on a regular basis, to increase your foundation of theological knowledge? 

How are you growing in understanding the Bible?

Are you increasing in your comprehension of the breadth, length, height, and depth of what Jesus did?
Ephesians 3 tells us that to be filled with all of God’s fullness, it begins with knowledge.

_________________________________________

What is the NEXT step do you need to take:

1. At Work 

It’s part of your sanctification - an opportunity to honor the Lord by truly honoring the person who has been placed in authority over you. 

What step do you need to take at work?

2. In Contentment

What is it that causes you to be discontent?

How can you take the next step, and pursue trusting God more? He is in control of the situation. He’s sovereign. He ordained it.

3. In Theology?

How do you need to pursue deeper knowledge?

Read the Bible more?

Join a discipleship group?

Read a good theological book? (Call me, I’d love to help you find a good one)

Bottom Line:

Where are you at in your understanding of the gospel?

If you don’t embrace that you need to know the gospel more and better and deeper, you’re in a place of pride that you need to be pushed out of.

Seek to grow this week:

1. At Work

2. In Contentment

3. In Knowlege/Theology

I”m praying that we all grow in these areas of sanctification this week.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor Rob

The Light Bulb Question

Q: How many Charismatic does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Ten. One to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Q: How many Pentecostals does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Only 1. The hands are already in the air.

Q: How many Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None. God has predestined when the lights will be on.

Q: How many Amish does it take?
A: What’s a light bulb?

Q: How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: CHANGE???????

When some sort of change is coming, here’s a helpful grid to determine how tightly you should hold on to “but this how we’ve always done it” vs. “Let’s do this ‘new’ thing!”

(Right-click and save this graphic to refer to later)

We need to hold tightly to the Biblical and loosely to the other three (which are variations of the same thing). The problem is that everyone’s tendency is to hold on tightly to B, C, and D while holding loosely to A, which is exactly backward. 

The next time change comes along - or even when you come across something you don’t like, or that frustrates you - run it through this grid. Always go back to the ultimate bottom line question: What does the Bible say? Chapter and verse! 

Let’s always be ready to Take the Next Step as together we strive to be radically obedient to a passionate pursuit of knowing God and making Him known. 

Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Rob

FAMILY!

 

Two things in this passage:

1. Church Relationships - Interactions

2. Obligations to one another & to Widows

There are any ideas the Bible uses to describe the church:

Holy Nation - we’re fellow citizens

Kingdom - we serve the same King

Priesthood - we are ministers of His grace

Vine - emphasizes the vital connection to 

Christ and to one another.

Temple - we owe Him our worship

Body - dependence on one another. 

Differences in role, purpose, function

Assembly - we gather. The distinct “together”

Flock - we need to be led and fed

Finally:

1. Family

Verses 1-2

• describes how we are to relate to each other

• how we confront/exhort one another

• what our interactions should look like…

There’s a Connection between Matthew 18 & 1 Timothy 5

The goal of show him his fault is to win your brother is to deepen the relationship. 

It’s a discipleship and spiritual growth issue.

How we treat and care for one another

The Church is a Family

This passage helps us to answer that and to grow in our understanding.

Treat one another as family:

• Older men: fathers

• Treat them with respect - honor them

• Look up to them - lean into their wisdom

• Seek their advice - learn from them

• Older women: mothers 

• How you know you should treat your mom

• How you want someone else to treat her

• How you should treat all the older women

• Proverbs stresses over and over that we 

should honor our mothers & fathers.
Listen to them and learn from them.

• Younger men: brothers

• You’re peers, equals, not superior

• Younger women: sisters

• in all purity

• Protect them

• protect their honor

• Stay pure

The Cross creates US – the church

Ephesians 1:3-14 - one of the most gospel-rich passages in the Bible lays out the US alongside much rich gospel truth:

• Jesus blessed US with every spiritual blessing

• by predestining US to adoption as sons

• WE have redemption

• forgiveness of OUR transgressions

• His grace abounds to US

• in Him WE have an inheritance

The church is a family.

We have a task, a purpose, a mission

We’re all in this together. 

We pursue this goal together. 

One of the things a family does is care for one another. 

2. Caring for & Serving Widows

While the church is a family and we are to think of one another as brother and sister, there is still a distinction between the church family and the family family. The household.

God very much cares about women - especially widows.

Psalm 146:9 – Yahweh keeps the sojourners;

He helps up the orphan and the widow,

Psalm 68:6 – A father of the fatherless and a judge (protector) for the widows, 

The first line of resource is the family. 

Whether that’s a husband who made sure his wife was taken care of after he’s gone, or children/grandchildren who take a widow in.

This is so obvious to everyone, even unbelievers, that if you won’t do this - you’re worse than an unbelieving pagan. WOW!

There’s a very clear principle:

Take care of your family.

Verses 9-15 - “The List” 

God has called every one of us to a specific ministry in the church.

This “list” in verse 9 is more about the list of widows that have the great joy and privilege of being prayer warriors for their church.

John Calvin says of these widows, who give great strength to their church: prayer by day and night is the special privilege of widows and the childless, for they are free from the things that very properly hinder those who rule a family from doing the same.

We all need to stop and think here.

What is my situation?

What kind of resources do you have?

How am I investing them for the Kingdom?

Everyone has different:

time

bandwith

focus

money

skills

energy level

abilities

passions/intereste/hobbies

etc.

Use them to maximum effort and invest them in the kingdom of God.

Rather than squandering them, 

Verses 12 – thus incurring condemnation…

There’s a downward trend when not pursuing knowing God and making Him known in, with, and through everything God has blessed you with.

verse 16 – If any believing woman has widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.

Two clear principles:

1. If family can help - the family must help

it’s the command of the Lord

There’s no “out” here

2. Husbands - your wife’s family is your family

Her mother is your mother

Her grandmother is your grandmother

THE BOTTOM LINE FOR EVERYONE

We need to live in such a way - 

both in our household, 

and as a church family

that anyone who observes anything we do:

~from the Sunday morning worship gathering down to a meeting of a couple of members over coffee ~

Looks at that and says: What’s the deal? What’s going on here? ow is it y’all so clearly love one another so much? Loving, serving, and honoring one another?

And we can reply: It’s The Gospel of Jesus Christ. It saves us, transforms us, and brings us together - Making a group of rag-tag humans into brothers & sisters who are all children of the King. We have the same Father.

You too can step into this family we call our church. How can you do that? By turning from your sins and trusting in Jesus Christ alone.

What does that mean? Here’s the answer in one minute - 164 words:

The one and only God, creator of everything, who is holy, made us in His image to Know Him and glorify Him.

But we sinned, we rebelled. We did our own thing and cut ourselves off from Him. There’s nothing we could ever do or would ever do to earn our way back to Him or even begin to fix the problem.

BUT – In His great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn to and believe in Him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us has been satisfied.

He now calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness.

If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.

And THAT is good news!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor Rob

The Pursuits of a Wise Father

 

What things should a godly man, husband, and father pursue?

1. Pursue God

Know God

Be Saturated in God’s Word

The Environment in which you pursue God:

The Church. The relationships that God has placed you in the midst of. 

2 Peter 3:18, Ephesians 4:15-16

This is something we do together.

Pursuit Requires Discipline

2. Pursue your Wife

The condition of any marriage is primarily a product of the spiritual walk of the husband

Proverbs gives us wisdom in how to love our wives:

1. A Wise Husband Listens

Proverbs 12:15

2. Don’t Be Quarrlesome

Proverbs 20:3

3. Hold Back

Proverbs 29:11

4. Learn from Your Mistakes

Proverbs 26:11

5. Discipline Your Children

Proverbs 13:24

6. Love Sacrificially

Read Ephesians 5:25-33 on the day you were married every month.

Saturate yourself in that passage as you strive to love your wife.

Love your wife as Christ loved the church.

You will never arrive, but that is the goal for which you must strive. 

3. Pursue your Children

The perfect pattern for raising your children is found in Ephesians 6:4 – Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Discipline and instruction begins with the heart 

(Proverbs 4:23, Luke 6:45).

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 provides guidance in how to do this:

Teach them:

• About God: The Lord our God

• To Love God

   with all your heart soul, might

• To Obey God: a product of knowing & loving

Teach them by showing them.

They need to see you love God with your heart, soul, 

and might.

Teach them by telling them. 

Don’t just show them - you just also tell them.

Bottom Line:

How will you take the next step to:

1. Pursue God

2. Pursue Your Wife

3. Pursue Your Children

Two suggestions:

• Read a Chapter of Proverbs Daily

search for the wisdom

find one passage that stands out to you

write it out on a post-it note or card

meditate on it throughout the day

• Dig into your role as a Father

Get one of the books on the list below and read through it. Use one of the devotional books to lead your family in regular devotions. 

BOOK LIST:

Books on being a Godly Man/Father

In a day when the church needs men to be men, these books lay a biblical foundation on the role of men in the family, the church, and society.

1. The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men

    by Richard Phillips  ($12 on Amazon)

2. Family Shepherds

    by Voddie Baucham  ($15 on Amazon)

3. Being a Dad Who Leads

    by John MacArthur

Family Devotional Guide Books

One thing you’ll hear consistently is that men need to lead their family in “family devotions.” These books are easy guides to help you do that. Gather your family around, open up the book, and walk through these family devotions together. You’ll be glad you did.

1. Wise Up 

    by Marty Machowski ($15 on Amazon)

2. A Guide to Family Worship -

    by Ryan Bush ($6.00 at mediagratiae.org)

3. Long Story Short & The Gospel Story Bible

    by Marty Machowski ($20 each on Amazon)

4. Jesus Storybook Bible

    by Sally Loyd-Jones ($11 on Amazon)

Central Truth: 1 Timothy 3:14-16

Never forget the significance of church.

This passage has several wonderful reminders:

1. Relationships

Our fundamental identity is family.

The Church is a family. A network of relationships. 

Paul and Timothy’s relationship was significant. It was, Father/Son, Discipleship, and a Ministry Partnership. Reminds us that relationships and discipleship are part of the DNA of church relationships.

2. Proper Conduct in the Church.

This was not merely instruction to Timothy, but also a reminder to the church to support their pastor as he leads the toward God’s Design. 

This letter teaches us:

How we are to interact with one another. 

How we are to behave 

How to conduct ourselves.

This letter is a

Guidebook for Church 

Structure and Behavior

Theological Foundation 

& Practical Application

3. What is the Church? (v. 15c)

The word “church” (ekklesia) means: gathering.

So fundamentally, church is a gathering.

An in-person, physical gathering. 

• The Household of God

God’s Possession

It’s God’s church. 

He owns it. 

He designed it

He rules it

He has the right to define every detail.

• It’s a Household

a family

with the structure of a family

• It’s the Dwelling place of God.

• The pillar and support of the truth.

Pillars are the columns that support the top of the building. It’s an architectural term.

As the church, we are to hold Jesus High and put Him on display. 

Support - the foundation - God’s Word

The Truth is found in the Word.

What is your real, actual, practical, daily commitment to the Word? Are you committed to:

Hearing

Reading

Studying

Memorizing (Psalm 119:11)

Meditating (Joshua 1:8)

Verse 16 - the central truth:

4. Mystery Made Known

The Central Truth of the Church

Common Confession - this is what we believe.

The Center Circle

• He who was manifested in the flesh,

The glorious God, who created everything, became a man in Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 2:24 – He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree,

• Vindicated by the Spirit

The resurrection was the vindication of Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God.

• Seen by Angels (or Messengers)

Angels were messengers and accompanied Jesus through His life. They were present at the birth, in the wilderness, strengthening Him before the cross, and were witnesses of the Risen Lord. Angels were messengers of Jesus.

The Apostles were His first earthly messengers. Their testimony, their proclamation would take that message around the world. 

• Proclaimed Among the Nations

After having seen the resurrected Christ

The apostles took that message to the world.

• Believed On In the World

From the very beginning the gospel was believed. John, the first disciple to arrive at the empty tomb, believed. There probably hasn’t been day go by without someone somewhere believe in the gospel. 

• Taken Up In Glory

This short hymn - this gospel song

It’s about the glory of God.

These six short phrases summarize the central truth of the Bible. 

The Central message of the church.

The Big Question:

What’s the Central Truth of your life?

What is it that everything else really revolves around? What drives you? What is the goal?

Is the gospel really the central truth of your life?

When was the last time you invited someone to come to church?

When did you last tell someone about how Jesus Christ changed your life?

(Those two things are connected)

We need to re-center | re-calibrate our lives on the Central Truth. To Jesus

Whatever your profession

The Gospel must be your obsession

May we all constantly re-center our lives around the Gospel.

Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Rob

God's DESIGN: Deacons & Serving

The primary purpose of the church: The Glory of God.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. We are most satisfied in Him when we pursue Him according to His design.

Acts 6:1-7 shows God’s design for the church: pastors & deacons working together. 

God’s Design:

• Pastors serve by leading

• Deacons lead by serving

The big question: how does this point us to Christ? How does it draw our attention to the gospel and make much of Jesus?

Deacons point us to Christ with their very lives

They’re servants who are reflections of Jesus, the ultimate Servant who gave His life as a ransom for His children.

What are the marks of a Deacon?

These are not only qualities to look for in deacons, but also characteristics we should all strive for as we continually seek to be Christlike. Ultimately, these are reminders of and pointers to the gospel.

Mark 1: A Love for God

This is the starting point for everything.

The first and greatest commandment:

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

• How do you cultivate a love for God?

• Saturate yourself in Scripture

• Be passionate about prayer

• Sit under sound preaching

• Be engaged in the Body

Mark 2: A Love for Others

Genuine salvation will result in us loving others

Titus 3 tells us that before we were saved, we were spending our life in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.

The gospel turns that upside down and inside out

When you’re transferred into the kingdom of God, your soul is re-wired to love others. 

How do we love others?

1. Be happy to see them!

It will show in your eyes, on your face, and in your words. 

2. Serve them

3. Encourage them

There’s no better way to serve others than to be an encourager.

4. Invest in them

Don’t just do it when it’s convenient or falls in your lap, pursue it intentionally.

Mark 3: Humility

James 4:6, Proverbs 29:23, Luke 14:11

What does pursuing humility look like?

1. Pursue Christ.

2. Help others help.

3. Gentleness in Convictions

4. Trust God (in Our Ever-Changing World)

Mark 4: Hold Tightly Rightly

Hold Tightly to what the Bible commands

Hold loosely to 

Traditions

The Practical (what works)

Preferences

Truthfully, we tend toward the opposite.

We’ve never done it that way.

I don’t like that

It’ll never work…

What matters more than any of those:

What does Scripture say?

What does God have to say about it?

Mark 5: Live Sacrificially

Living sacrificially is the outworking of

Loving God

Loving people

Pursuing Humility

Holding Tightly Rightly

What does it LOOK LIKE to live sacrificially?

––> Look to the gospel!

If you’re not continually meditating on the sacrifice Jesus made for YOU when He died on the cross and took the punishment that you deserve for your sinful words, sinful actions, and sinful attitudes, You’re not going to serve like you should.

Remembering Christ’s sacrifice for vile, wretched sinners like we are will drive all faithful God-honoring service. 

The ultimate act of sacrifice, 

the ultimate act of service 

was Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.

We need to be reminded of the gospel daily because we forget the gospel daily 

When you think of serving, or see someone serving others in some way, let it be a reminder of what Jesus did for you and then, in response to that, serve someone else!

Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Rob