Becoming effective runners in the Christian race

<p>Becoming effective runners in the Christian race</p>

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Restoration International

Simple Christianity

Tom Waters

We Shall be Like Him

The title of my message tonight is, We Shall Be Like Him.

How many of you brought the Word of God with you tonight?

If you want to open it tonight, we're going to look at 1 John 3, verse 2.

Very important words for us tonight, And very real words for our experience.

Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.

We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him.

We shall be like him for we shall see Him as He is.

Now, that's a pretty familiar verse, isn't it?

But there are 2 parts of this verse that I want to highlight tonight.

Now are we the sons, and can I say that we are now the sons and daughters?

Right now, do we really appreciate this, friends?

Do we really appreciate right now, in this moment, that we can be called sons of the Most High God?

You know, my son, Josiah, our son, is right now starting his training in the West Wind School of Aeronautics near Phoenix.

We're spending a little time with he and his comrade Thomas who are going through the program together, side by side to encourage each other.

But you know, I want to believe that my son, Josiah, is going to make me pleased that He honors me in the way He represents His God in this program.

In the way He represents how we as his parents have raised him, how we have given him responsibility, how we have entrusted him with independence.

And we believe that he will honor us in those decisions in his school program.

Now those are very human terms, but do parents like to be honored?

So you think it's a privilege to be called a son or a daughter of God tonight?

I don't think we understand like we should what a blessed privilege it is to be a Son of God.

That's 1 thing I want to highlight tonight.

And I think that encourages me, and I hope it encourages us to the second part that I want to highlight.

Because I believe if we really appreciate being a son of God, if we really understand the privilege of being His son, it will encourage us that we shall be like Him.

We will be like Him if we let Him work in us.

You know, I found 1 of the blessings of study in the Bible is really coming to understand a little bit more of what the words mean.

So, when it says, we shall be like Him, what does that mean?

Well, as I looked up that word, like, doesn't sound like a very complicated word, does it?

It means that we will be the same as Him.

That we, when we shall see him, that we shall be like him, we shall be the same as him.

Then it goes on, it says, we will have the same character as Him.

So when we shall see him, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

What will happen, friends, and I don't want to dwell on the negative side of this, but for a moment, What will happen to the people who see Him who are not like Him?

The Bible says that they will be consumed by the brightness of His glory.

That's what will happen to people who have not chosen to be in him, to be like him, to be changed by him.

You see friends, we shall be like him in reality, not just in theory.

That is a blessed hope and it is our hope Today.

He's already proven that a human being can become like him, so much like him, that he's there with him in reality.

And David, you know I'm so thankful that God allowed real people to be in the Bible.

And I'm thankful that God allowed real people's terrible mistakes and conscious choices to sin to be recorded in the Bible for us.

Because all these people, people like Jacob, who was named supplanter from the womb.

And what did he go through to get the new name?

And he prevailed with God and received a new name.

Yes, friends, we must have that experience.

In verse 3 it says, And every man that hath this hope, this is our hope, every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.

Empowered Choices

We're going to be talking about empowered choices tonight.

You see, we're always making choices, aren't we?

And those choices, some of the choices that you made to come here, may have started out on the right track, but self was powering those choices.

And you ran into difficulties, and you may have found yourself frustrated in your trip.

You may have found yourself becoming irritated, speaking in a tone of voice that was not the Spirit of Christ.

But some of you, as you faced your difficulties and trials, made choices that were empowered by the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Those choices, when powered by Christ, made you at peace and at rest even in the midst of your trial.

God wants to bring each 1 of us to the place that we will find rest unto our souls.

That going through difficulties, we can still allow and still choose to have the power of Jesus Christ bringing us to the resting place in our Christian experience.

If you have your Bibles tonight, I'd like you to open them to 2 Corinthians 4 and 6.

We're going to talk about how these empowered choices happen.

It says here, for God who commanded the light to shine out of what?

To shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts.

Hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Verse 7 says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of who?

It comes from our God, and we become the recipients of that power.

Verse 11, it says, for we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake.

Now that doesn't sound very nice, does it?

We are always delivered unto death for whose sake?

For Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

That is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The power to shine into us, then when that power shines into us, that's Jesus Christ, when He is shining in us, notice this, when the light of Christ shines in us and we allow that light to shine, Jesus said, let your light shine.

When that happens, what is being revealed?

The glory of God, if it's Christ in us, it's the glory of God that's being revealed that's shining through us.

It says it's the power of God that's shining through us.

And do you think your children know, parents, when you're in a trial, Do you think your son or daughter knows when the power of God is working in you?

But when they see the power of God working, They know it's God, it's not us, it's the power of God working in us.

Practically, in real life, we have to make choices.

We have to make choices by faith, choices to surrender ourselves and let self die.

It says there in verse 11 of 2nd Corinthians 4, It says, for we which live are always, how much?

Always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest, where?

So, when we by faith choose to let self be dead, when we choose to let self be crucified, When that choice is made by faith, we then have an empowered choice.

And that power reveals, manifests Jesus Christ in our mortal flesh.

And that, Brothers and sisters, young people, children, that is what Jesus wants.

He wants to live in us and reveal himself in us so that the world will desire a Savior.

You know, many people in the world don't sit in churches or they don't sit in meetings like this.

How are the people in the world going to want Jesus?

How are they going to be attracted to Jesus?

His Holy Spirit wants to walk and work in human beings today so that when people find us in trials, The difference they see in a Christian is the difference Jesus makes in our mortal flesh.

That is an empowered choice and that is the result that we will see if that choice is truly empowered by God.

This is why willpower, choice power, is so important to us.

Willpower is simply the power that God gives to every man, woman, and child to make a choice.

And choice determines our master in the moment.

Choice doesn't just determine our master at the time of our conversion or at the time we meet Christ.

Choice continues, choice by choice, continues to determine who our master is in this present situation.

Joshua 24, 15 says, choose you this day whom ye will what?

That's what willpower is for, is to choose in the moment, in the trial, in the difficulty, who it is.

If we have been serving Jesus, if we rise in the morning and we make a living connection to the power of Jesus Christ and we are serving him through the day, we will not just have 1 choice, will we?

Yeah, some days it seems like we're constantly making choices.

At any point along the day, we can choose a new master.

Self can take over and Christ can be pushed out of the mastery of our heart.

You see, this is the first choice that we make in every situation.

When we choose whom we will serve, that is the first choice that we make in every situation.

And I want to tell you why for many, many years I failed continually in the Christian life.

And having said that, I want to be very sensitive.

I'm about to share with you a recent failure in my Christian experience.

I don't fail for the same reasons that I used to.

It's because in the past I did not understand my first choice in choosing my master.

When temptation would come to me, I recognized the circumstances.

And my choice was not the first choice to choose my master.

My choice was being moved, motivated by my circumstances.

And what it means when it says that we need to behold the Lamb of God, for me, practically, that has come to mean that I need to stay in communion with God as I go through the day.

It doesn't mean that I somehow have my eyes fixed in some certain place in the sky or I see Jesus in front of me, but that I continue to commune with God.

What I found in my old way of reckoning that I used to consult the circumstances, feel the feelings, think the thoughts, be drawn in that direction, and so my choice of what master I wanted to serve was taken out of the picture.

So my first choice was not the right choice.

Knowing God’s Will

That wasn't nearly as strong as the Amen for the youth.

Jesus could say these words in John 8, 29.

With me, The Father hath not left me alone.

But Jesus went on and said these words, For I do always those things that please Him.

But I'm not discouraged by that Because I am learning and choosing to say yes to God more and more often to do the things that He's asking me to do.

We can know the will of our Heavenly Father.

I want to share with you 3 ways that we come to know the will of God.

Christ spent a large amount of time in nature, but I'm going to focus on 3 ways that are accessible to us continually no matter where we find ourselves.

And it's taken from the fifth volume of the Testimonies to the Church, page 512.

There are 3 ways in which our Lord reveals His will to us.

To guide us and to fit us to guide others.

How may we know His voice from that of a stranger?

Okay, number 1, God reveals his will to us in his word, the Holy Scriptures.

His voice is also revealed in his providential workings.

Okay, so His Word, His voice is also revealed in his providential workings, and through the appeals of the Holy Spirit making impressions upon the heart.

His word, providential indications, and impressions from the Holy Spirit upon the heart.

Now, those providential indications that we look for, and those impressions of the Holy Spirit that come to the heart, They must be tested against this.

I read it after I prayerfully consulted the Lord because sometimes I get things from people and now I've learned that when I receive them I put a qualification on it.

And that is, I'm going to ask the Lord whether he wants me to read this.

You're not gonna read it, I'll take it and give it to somebody else, I want to know.

Well, I took this manuscript and I shared that with this gentleman.

And as I was reading it, in each section of this manuscript, I found a thread of error that went through the entire manuscript.

And when he came to my home to talk to me about my thoughts on his manuscript, we talked for a while and then I shared with him that I had a concern that there was a thread of error that went through his entire manuscript.

And I said, I would like to take the word of God and talk about the thread of air through the manuscript.

His response to me was, you don't need to do that.

I have a higher connection directly with God.

It may have been the strongest warning he has ever received in his life.

At least it was 1 of the strongest warnings I've ever given a human being.

I said, if we cannot open the word of God to test your manuscript, If you have higher knowledge than the Word of God, then you are headed down a path that will mean the destruction of your soul if you do not turn.

We should be saying amen brothers and sisters at least in our hearts because if we ever get to the point where we think we can know the will of God and not take out the Word of God, we are on dangerous ground.

We will not be safe to say that we know the will of God because we now have a higher direct connection with God that bypasses his word.

I won't tell you today where that man is.

The last thing I heard about that man was heartbreaking.

Never be afraid to test your impressions against, of thus saith the Lord.

You see, the real difficulty for most of us is not, can I know the will of God, but am I willing to know the will of God?

And if I am willing to know the will of God, am I willing to do the will of God in the power of God?

How many of us have tried to do the will of God in the power of man?

It never will work and thank God that he will not let it work.

He loves us enough to allow us to fall flat on our faces.

You know, sometimes I'll be very honest with you, there have been times in my life and some of them not so distant in the past.

You know, sometimes it's just nice to say, well, you know, that happened back 15 years ago and use the illustrations back there, but sometimes I find myself not wanting to know the will of God in a certain area because I already think I know what it will cost me.

That's the fear of most of us, to give a full surrender.

And there have been many times that I have gone to my closet.

I'm thankful I have a real closet to go to.

To go to my closet, and 1 thing that I have learned in coming to know the will of God is that if I am not willing, I know enough about God now, I have experienced enough, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.

I've tasted enough of God and His love for me, that now I can go to my closet and say, very honestly, Lord, I don't feel like knowing your will, but I'm willing to be made willing.

To be willing, to be made willing, is sometimes the position we find ourselves in when we are unwilling.

And you know God has never failed me 1 time to make me willing when I'm really willing.

When I'm willing to go on my knees before God and say, Lord, I don't like the way this looks, I don't like the way it's headed, I don't like the way it feels, but I'm willing to do your will.

He has done it over and over and over in my life and he will do it for you if you're willing And then we need to begin to search The Word of God What did David say in Psalm 119, 105?

A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

I remember the day that, and I know I've shared this with some of you, I remember the day when God took some more of the blinders off my eyes and I realized why I was stumbling in my present life.

The Lord helped me to see that I was so focused on end time events, studying God's Word for end time events.

And I was so zealous about end time events.

I was stumbling in my home, stumbling in my marriage, stumbling with my children and 1 day the Lord showed me that this lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path was all shining out in the future, on the path, way out in the future, the end times.

And I was in total darkness, well, not total darkness, but it appeared to be total darkness right at my feet, right at the path that was closest to me, about my own marriage and my own children, I was out there with lots of light shining on the path and I've met many men like this.

I've met many men that aren't walking in any lights, okay, or they're not seeking the light They're not seeking the lamp and the light, but I've met many men that are out there in prophecy They're out there in the end time events.

They're out there in all kinds of things and they're stumbling They don't know how to talk to their wife.

Christian Integrity

Well, I want to talk about Christian integrity today.

That means we need to be honest with each other, right?

And we may think that we're being honest.

But are we willing for God to reveal what's really in our hearts?

I want to talk about 3 areas of honesty today.

Of integrity, of truthfulness, of transparency that I believe describe the real Christian life.

Number 1, I want to talk about our personal relationship to God.

About how honest we're really willing to be with God about our true condition.

Are we willing to let God deal with our weaknesses and then Are we willing to let God deal with our weaknesses and then are we willing to let God reveal to us things that we don't even know are happening in our experience?

Number 2, I want to talk about integrity, real Christian integrity in the home life, in the marriage relationship and within the parenting relationship between parents and children.

And lastly, I'd like to talk about integrity in every other relationship outside of the home.

Every transaction of life, if we're being honest that our integrity is a Christian integrity in our church setting, in our school setting, with relatives, at work, with friends, real Christian integrity.

Let's talk about that first area of our personal relationship with God.

Psalm 25 21 says, let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait on thee.

We're waiting on God because God is the 1 who provides integrity.

It says, let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait on thee.

We're going to talk today about letting God preserve us in our integrity versus us trying to be preserving ourselves.

Happens every day and if We are not actively seeking God to preserve us in integrity and honesty.

So today, as I share with you, I want you to think about whether or not you're really being honest with God.

I remember the very day, the very place where I was, when I opened my heart up to God to trust Him enough to believe that He really was God, and to allow Him to begin to deal with the known weaknesses that I had been pushing away from.

If any of you are sitting here today and you are consciously aware of areas of your life that you have refused to let God have, then you are not experiencing true Christian integrity.

If there are areas in your life that you know are weaknesses and you do not want God to deal with those areas of your life, you're on a dangerous situation, You're on dangerous ground.

Because God, while God loves us, He will by no means clear the guilty.

So I hope today as we talk together about integrity in our personal walk with God, that we will be willing to really let Him have access.

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Series

Simple Christianity

What Will We Do

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Parts

We Shall be Like Him

53m

Empowered Choices

52m

Knowing God’s Will

44m

Christian Integrity

1h

Healing the Hurt

56m

What Will We Do

57m

Sound Doctrine