Ascension - Choosing to Believe and Answering the "Upward Call of God” -Purity 1225

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a lake and its shoreline reflected in its waters while mist hovers above its surface comes to us from a currently unknown Facebook friend— I'm guessing Fred Dimmick— who shared this photo back on or around December 16th, 2022. Whether it's Fred or someone else, I wanted to say thank you and to remind us of all— remind all of us that the things we share with one another matter, and the things we believe in, like friendship and beauty, can have a major impact on the quality of our lives. Well, it's Tuesday, and today is the day of testing, and quite frankly, it is a day that I wasn't entirely sure that I would see even though I set my intention to come to it earlier this year. I took the day off from work today because I have a doctor's appointment to pick up some testing equipment to do a sleep study later this evening. Since 2013, I've, I've, I have used a CPAP sleep apnea machine when I sleep because I have always snored. And when I complained about falling asleep in the afternoons A sleep study revealed that I had periodic episodes in my sleep where I would stop breathing. The CPAP machine pumps air to my breathing passages to prevent that. One of the causes of sleep apnea is obesity, something I have been since childhood. However, after being diagnosed with sleep apnea for about, about 10 years ago, I have decided to try to lose weight and be healthy. And possibly get off the sleep apnea machine, but my weight and BMI, body mass index, has, has yo-yoed over the years, and even though I have made progress previously, I never got to the point that I felt I could attempt to get rid of the sleep apnea machine. But this year, I decided I would make a push to reduce my BMI and weight out of the obese zone and into the normal zone. In my estimation, my best guess, if I wanted to try to get off the machine, I had to get down to 200 pounds. Even though that was my intention early in the year, I was at 240 pounds in the early summer months, and only after I got convicted about my food addiction, to treat it like an addiction, did I finally commit myself to be accountable to a food addiction sponsor and monitor everything I ate with my— with the MyFitnessPal app on August 18th. Since then, the weight has come off at about a pace of 2 pounds a week. Over the weekend, I was weighing in at 198 pounds. After Sunday's candy binge, this morning I'm weighing in at 203 pounds. Now, before you think I ate 5 pounds of candy, let me assure you that my scale is terrible in terms of consistency, as I previously reported. Massive swings in its results regardless of changes in my eating habits. So although I was proud to break 200 pounds, I had a feeling that the scale might change its mind, and I'm not surprised to see myself back on the other side of 200 pounds after my food relapse on Sunday. But regardless of my Christmas-themed, uh, food relapse, I am in the best shape of my life. And I am hoping and praying that tonight's sleep study will result in my being set free from the need to sleep with a CPAP machine. Perhaps I should have waited until I got to my goal weight of 185 pounds, but my DOT health certification is due in January, and it is my hope that I can get off the CPAP machine and get recertified for 2 years with my DOT license rather than 1 year that is required for drivers with sleep apnea. So we shall see. And, uh, I also decided to take off today in order to get the next installment of the Celebrate Freedom Discipleship course ready for YouTube and for tomorrow night's Celebrate Freedom growth group meeting. The topic is Ascension, what I have decided to call making the decision to pursue progressive sanctification by faith, the decision to fight the next battle after after one has experienced victory as a natural outflow of life in the Spirit. Time is short, and the lesson I prepared in 2020 is long, and I am currently in the process of making massive edits to get it to growth group size, which is about 5 pages. And so I'm trying to flesh out what have been the keys of my progressive victories over first alcohol and and drugs in 2015, then sexual addiction in 2018, and now food addiction in 2023. I'm not sure how the lesson will look in its final form, as I will be working on and completing it today. But in considering my walk and journey toward freedom, the thing that I have determined is fundamental to victorious Christian living is faith. Surprise! Just as we have say— we are saved through faith alone, We are also transformed through faith, although with winning victories over the things, uh, that kept us in bondage, it must be accompanied by volitional choices and our actions, which are driven by our faith, our decision to believe. As simple as it may sound, that faith is the answer, the decision to choose to believe is far-reaching as it applies to all the truth in God's Word and our lives. In order for our faith to bear the fruit of the Spirit, we must choose to believe God is with us, God cares about us, loves us, and will help us, that we have been given a new life and freedom already, and that the Word of God is true and true for us specifically. And we must but choose to believe nothing is impossible with God. And we must choose also to believe that the ways of the world are corrupted by man or the spiritual forces of darkness. And they should be abandoned. Now, before you get the idea that overcoming and experiencing life in the Spirit is just a matter of positive affirmations, let me assure you that it's not that simple. The Christian has been given two things that set them apart from anyone else: the Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12, 14, and 16 tell us, and And we have received God's Spirit, not the world's spirit, so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them, and they can't understand it. And only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. This passage highlights the unique gifts that the Christian has been given because of his faith in Christ. We have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to help us to know the wonderful things of God, and not just intellectually, experientially, and the mind of Christ to understand what the Spirit means. Understanding is beyond intellectual knowledge and is demonstrated with practice. It's one thing to know what something is, like a screwdriver. It's another thing to show our understanding by using it properly. So we don't just know those things that we choose to believe, we understand them by choosing to live by them. Knowing God loves us intellectually versus experiencing and understanding God's love God's love, presence, and care is qualitatively different. Knowing about our identity in Christ intellectually versus experiencing life through the context of who we are in Christ is different. And the idea of ascension is answering what Paul calls the upward call of God on our life. In Philippians 3:13-14, he, he says, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal of the prize of the upward call in Christ— of God in Christ Jesus. The idea of ascension is to keep pressing forward to know God more and to be conformed more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. To be transformed by the renewing of our mind and through the power of the Holy Spirit who operates in us through faith. We choose to believe that God is with us and surrender ourselves to continuously following his call on our lives. When we choose to believe God's word, that he is with us and helping us, amazing things can happen and our lives go from bondage to the things of this world and negative emotions that accompany circumstantial living to freedom, to enjoy the good things God has already given us, and the feelings of joy, peace, and love that flow into our lives when we walk in the Spirit. So choose to believe the Lord and follow him into the upward call of ascension on your life.

As always—

well, no, today not as always. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scriptural Reference for Counseling by John D. Creus, This morning's meditation verses come from the section on church discipline, and today's passage is 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. And the word of God says, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his, has his father's wife, and you are arrogant Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, reviler, a drunkard or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. For what, for what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you. Today's verses fall under the 8th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on church discipline. And that, uh, that 8th point is purge out the old leaven. And today's verses encourage Christians to not allow the sexually immoral who claim to be Christians to be within their fellowship. This passage of scripture is extremely challenging for our modern society as sexual immorality is rampant and our sexual mores have continued to slide into liberalism. But the idea behind the church discipline that Paul is pointing to is that true Christians within the church should practice sexual purity and be encouraged to repent when they don't. We shouldn't be proud that we have sexually immoral, immoral people in our churches, so God's grace and forgiveness should abound. We should exhort them to repent and expel those who don't, don't from the assembly of the church with the hope that that they would turn from their sexual sins in order to be allowed back into the church. That's what Paul means in surrendering them to Satan, that the negative consequences of their sins would cause them to repent and follow the Lord with the way they live. Instead of being a mockery of what Christians are supposed to be, set free and holy, you know, well, you Yeah, instead of being a mockery of what Christians are supposed to be. Christians are supposed to be set free and holy, of light and not of darkness. So yikes. Anyway, as always, we invite all to go to mt4christ.org where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from God Is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And, uh, we're gonna play catch-up, but right now we're in Advent Week 3, Redemption, um, with Day 7. And God does not want to frighten people is the message that Bonhoeffer writes.

And so let's read that.

The Bible never wants to make us fearful. God does not want people to be afraid, not even of the Last Judgment. Rather, he wants to let human beings know everything so that they will know all about life and its meaning. He lets people know even today so that they may already live their lives openly and, and in the light of the Last Judgment. He lets us know solely for one reason: so that we may find the way to Jesus Christ, so that we may turn away from our evil way and try to find him. Jesus Christ. God does not want to frighten people. He sends us the word of judgment only so that we will reach all the more passionately, all the more avidly for the promise of grace, so that we will know that we cannot prevail before God on our own strength, that before him we would have to pass away, but that in spite of everything, he does not want our death. But our life. Christ judges, that is, grace is judge and forgiveness and love. Whoever clings to it is already set free. And Bonhoeffer also shares from a sermon for repentance from Sunday, November 19th, 1933. Bonhoeffer wrote, repentance means turning away from one's own work to the mercy of God. The whole Bible calls us, calls to us and cheers us. Turn back, turn back. Remember where to? To the everlasting grace of God who does not leave us. God will be merciful.

So come Judgment Day.

Lord Jesus, make us ready.

We rejoice. Amen.

And finally, from that resource, they share Matthew 4:17, and the word of God says From that time, Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." And that concludes our sharing for today, basically from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's God is in the Manger. As we draw ever closer to Christmas, today is December 19th, and Christmas is what, 6 days away, depending on how you count.

So yeah, it's coming soon and we're looking forward to Christmas and the week off. We have a nice Christmas vacation this year and we can't wait to enjoy it. Some extra time to enjoy the holiday season and to be with my wife and to get things done in terms of the ministry at the end of the year, um, as I am completing the Celebrate Freedom discipleship course, uh, with the Celebrate Freedom growth group at Starpoint Church. Just 3 lessons to craft and finish, and then I'll be moving— we'll move into the Celebrate Recovery stuff that's already been, you know, already been bite-sized and prepared for new growth group, uh, consumption already through the previous 26 weeks, uh, that we went from May to— made it in November. So that should help.

Um, then we're looking— so we're looking forward to that. We're looking forward to the new season. We're looking forward to, um, people turning over a new leaf with New Year's resolutions, as our church is going to highlight support groups Pastor Chad Clem from Starpoint shared with me yesterday the new website basically that's going to have Celebrate Freedom, Divorce Care, and Grief Share, um, you know, information, frequently asked questions, and registration links all prepared.

And apparently they're going to roll that out on December 31st. So anyone who's interested in getting help through our local church will have those options.

And I know that, you know, seeking help helps, you know. Not only did I go through Celebrate Freedom to get set free from my addictions to alcohol and then sexual addiction, although sexual addiction was more or less me and the Holy Spirit, you know, not for nothing.

It was a conviction from Acts 15 to not be sexually immoral. There was no group, there was no sponsor, there was just me and the decision to walk into the desert of sexual purity. And the Lord was faithful to deliver me until I met my wife and now live in that blessed bliss of marriage. Getting help from our brothers is very important. And, um, whatever hurt, habit, or hangup you have, you know, the answers to these problems are found in our, our, in our Bibles, and, and in the decision to choosing to believe, to have faith, and to live according to the truth of the Bible, and to draw close to the Lord relationally, to have a relationship with him. And to love him. That's how a disciple does, you know, a disciple's supposed to live. They're supposed to love their teacher and learn their lessons and apply them to their lives.

So that's what we try to encourage here, because when you do that, God will help you.

God will bless your efforts. When you follow him, he will lead you into good things. There might be some struggling and some suffering along the way, but he leads you to a better life and a better place when you follow the Lord.

So that's what we encourage, and we're hoping for good things. Whether or not I passed the sleep study, I did my best. And if we fail, we can always try again further down the road. But, um, we did a lot, and we're hoping that things changed in my body enough that my breathing passages aren't obstructed because I'm big and fat, or not as big and fat as I used to be. So we'll see. Anyway, even though I don't have to work, I have work to do.

So let's, let's pray because we're running a little late today.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom.

Lord, we thank you so much for the victory that you've given us in life through our faith in Jesus Christ and that call on our lives to keep moving, keep going forward and pressing in to, to know you more and to be more and more like Jesus by repenting of the things we've done. And, uh, Lord, we just thank you for the victory and the hope that we have in you.

Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests their walk of faith, because Lord, we all need your help and we need your presence and love.

And so Lord, we pray for you to be with them.

Yeah, Lord, we just pray for you to be with us today as we seek to glorify you through, um, through the, the lessons, uh, we create and through the way we walk.

So, uh, Lord, we just pray for you to go before us, open our eyes to the things you want us to see. And move us in the way we should go, because all I want to do is represent you in your kingdom, Lord.

And, uh, so we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.