SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: July 13, 2010
Date Preached: July 18, 2010
Church: OPBC (AM)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: Finding God’s Guidance in this World
Title: How Well Do You Receive Instruction?
Text: 1 Cor. 2:16
“…For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ…”
INTRODUCTION:
Last week we started this series of sermons that is looking at Finding God’s Guidance in our world today. Last week we look in Colossians 3 where Paul’s prayer for the Colossian church pointed out 3 distinct hopes for the church…
Paul prayed that they would:
i. Be filled with the knowledge of God, and not just a head knowledge but a heart knowledge that knows God intimately!
ii. Take that knowledge and begin to put it into practice in their daily lives… to be able to live as God desired BUT also to reveal God to the world around them…finally
iii. To trust God and wait on God and know that God’s power will bring about God’s will in our lives…
Last week we looked at seeking and finding God’s guidance, but as Christians we cannot merely seek after God’s guidance! After we SEEK for God’s guidance we need to actually ‘receive’ the guidance that God gives!
As believers, it is important that we trust God and His guidance…Solomon tells us in Prov 3:5-6[ESV]:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.
I know that seeking God’s will or guidance in our lives AND then receiving it into our lives may sound a bit simplistic… after all why would we seek God’s guidance if we were NOT going to use it… but so often as I have said, many times we seek after God’s guidance, hoping and praying that it will be what WE desire… often it is NOT! For the believer it is all about not only knowing the will of God but receiving that Will into our lives and putting in into practice!
When we look at our passage today it is so very similar to what Solomon said thousands of yrs earlier. “…but we have the mind of Christ…’
To ‘have the mind of Christ’ does not mean that we KNOW all of what Christ knows… it does not make the claim that we are equal to Christ! But what it DOES do is let all of those around us know that we are seeking to do the WILL of Christ in our lives! We are seeking to think like Christ, see the world like Christ, love the world like Christ and live our lives to please the Christ we claim as Savior!
To some that may sound outrageous and arrogant, but when Jesus is the Lord of your life and you are giving Him the utmost priority in your life by seeking AND trusting in His guidance…it is a very normal state for the believer to have the ‘mind of Christ.’
Now the best way to see if this is something we should or should NOT do, we need look NO further than the examples of faith and submission by those characters in the Bible we can read about! It was NOT uncommon for those in the OT and others to trust God’s guidance in their lives!
When Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for his son Isaac, the servant traveled far away to a land where he was a stranger and the customs were strange to him and he was alone! However when asked about his journey this servant told those he was staying with, “The Lord has led me…” Gen 24:27 [ESV] He trusted God to lead him thru a strange land and help him to deal with strange customs while he served Him.
Have you ever known a believer like that? They seek after God’s guidance in their lives, and then when God reveals it to them… they actually ‘receive’ it and put it into practice in their lives. Just as Solomon tells us to do…
I have heard of missionaries praying about whether or not to go to another town or not… waiting on God’s guidance before they even set out on a trip. I have heard of those who pray for God’s guidance in every financial decision in their lives.
Preacher are you saying that I should pray about EVERYTHING I do? Preacher are you trying to tell me that what Scripture is telling us?
Again I want to use scripture to clarify an issue… In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonican church, Paul tells the believers that they should pray without ceasing… AND in his letter to the Philippian church he says, Phil 4:6-7 [ESV]
6 …do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I believe the principle of scripture is very clear, God wants us to ALWAYS come to Him with everything in our lives and allow Him to guide and direct our steps.
This is a basic biblical principle that we ALL should be living by… it should be how ALL believers act… if we take the Bible seriously, especially the text for this morning. “…but we have the mind of Christ…” then we have to submit all things TO Christ… we have to have Christ as our filter for the things and decisions of this world!
Receiving God’s guidance means that the living God of the Universe has fully and totally possessed our lives. It means that He has taken up residence within us to enlighten us so that we may walk in the light. He leads us so that it can be said. “…for as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God…” Rom 8:14 [NKJV]
When we receive God’s guidance it means that the living God of the Universe has indwelled our hearts so that stands to reason that IF we have His knowledge, we have his mind… so
1. We have received HIS knowledge:
We can and do receive the guidance and knowledge of God from the only guidebook that the Christian ever needs – The Bible! God reveals Himself and what He expects from His people through the pages of His Word, through the Bible.
There are over 2000 times in the Bible where it is said that the words of this Book are identified as the Word of God. Clearly the Bible can help us to know HOW to walk and WHERE to walk in our Christian lives. The psalmist said it best when he wrote, “…thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path…”Ps 119:105[ESV]
Without God’s word in our lives…Christians would be in darkness we would not have the ‘light of the world’ in our lives! So if the believer makes the choice to ignore God’s Word or if they choose NOT to take God’s guidance at His word, then that pretty much insures that we will NOT have God’s guidance in our lives! For the Christian, God’s guidance flows directly out from the Word of God!
For us to receive God’s guidance we must open our Bibles! Not because the Bible will plan every minute of our day, or give us a detailed prescription for every problem of life… every circumstance!
What the Bible DOES do for the Christian is present and provide the principles by which God wants us to live our lives. These principles light up our path in life and show us the way! But, best of all, the Bible shows us Jesus!
Jesus is the Light of the World. When we have been ‘born again’ by the living and abiding Word of God…Jesus is there to guide and instruct us in our daily walk.
There was once a pastor who was asked to counsel a couple who was having marital problems. The pastor soon found out that neither one was a Christian. He changed his focus from their marriage to that of Christ, and soon both came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
The pastor asked them if they were ready to work on and deal with that problem that they had been having, and they said that now because they had Christ, they had learned to be sensitive to each other and were now communicating and the problems were being solved.
They said that they might still need to come back for counseling, but they had a different perspective on matters now and they had a new guidance system in which to guide their marriage.
This just illustrates that when we receive Christ the Bible MUST become the guidebook for our lives. This is because the knowledge we gain through reading and studying the Bible, enables us to gain the mind of Christ!
But not only when we have the mind of Christ do we receive HIS knowledge, but in having the mind of Christ we also have received HIS Spirit.
2. We have received His Spirit:
People if you have professed Christ as Savior… this HAS to be a reality in your life! When we are saved, the Bible tells us that we have received the Spirit of God into our lives! I don’t understand why this one spiritual fact causes some to blow a spiritual gasket…
I guess it is because they seek rational explanations for every fact of their spiritual experience. However, if they expect rational explanations, how can they have trusted Christ by faith in the 1st place… it seems to me that the two are mutually exclusive…
If you have faith that God can die for your sin, provide forgiveness OF your sin and cleansing of your soul… If you believe that faith in God can and will bring salvation and eternal life… why then is it so hard to believe that when this occurs that God comes to dwell within your life…as believers WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD!
In another sense this reality causes others to blow a fuse when it comes to the practical application of walking the walk… to know that we are indwelled by God… to know that we receive the Spirit of God… causes conflict with our fleshly nature!
But whether it is a faith issue or the practical issue… we need to understand that both faith and the practicality of WORKS are not possible on our own… they are going to require the guidance of God!
As I have preached countless times, when we get saved we cannot set our Christian lives on autopilot! God created us with a free will and it is our obedience to God’s guidance in our lives in spite of that free will and fleshly nature that reveals our love for God. God did not save us to make us robots for His kingdom, He expects us to use our personality and personhood for HIS glory, but it is only profitable under HIS guidance!
As a Christian we have to be sensitive to God’s presence in our lives and open to impressions that come about when we study and learn from God’s Word! This leads us to learn about the guidance of God for our lives.
Now our minds store up all sorts of things… I am a master of the game called Trivial Pursuit. Which is a game of useless knowledge and empty facts, but my mind is filled with a lot of good and correct answers!
You may say that you can’t learn or remember anything anymore, but our minds are storehouses…it can be a storehouse for the things of this world…or it can be a storehouse for the knowledge of God. We have to be intentional about what we ‘store’ in our minds.
My ability in Trivial Pursuit has declined over the past decade because I have been putting other things in my ‘storehouse’ … the things of God and not useless and trivial information.
When we think about it, our minds can be seen as a distribution centers. We can distribute the things we have ‘stored up’ in them… it can be the things of this world or it can be the knowledge of God and His Word!
When we make the intentional decision to trust God, seek Him in His Word and seek to know His will and seek after His guidance…and then put that into action in our own lives… that is what I would call “WALKING IN THE SPIRIT”
In his letter to the church in Galatia Paul wrote about a principle that rings true of God’s Holy Spirit, Paul says:
“…If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit…” Gal 5:25[NASB]
The Williams translation says it like this, “…Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit…” [NIV]
How many of you here have EVER been in a foreign country? If you have then you know just how important a guide can be… A good guide can be the key to you fully enjoying and experiencing that country. Or as it was in my case when I was in Haiti… our guide was a tool to get our job done, but our guide was also safety net for us… it kept us on track… it kept us away from danger… and it got us home safe!
God is like that guide, he will not leave us ‘wondering’ what is going on. God will not leave us alone. He helps us to get the job done, but He also keeps us on track, away from danger and gets us home safely… WHEN we listen to Him!
When we come to know Christ as Savior, Jesus comes to us and dwells within us. He teaches us the truth and because of this we CAN have the mind of Christ!
But not only do we have the mind of Christ because we have received His knowledge or because we have received His spirit, but we also have the mind of Christ because we have received His invitation to pray.
3. We have received His invitation to pray:
You see our minds are the battleground where the forces of truth and the forces of evil fight their fight. And the outcome of that battle depends solely on our willingness to submit to God OR submit to our natural desires!
Have you ever disagreed with God about His guidance in your life? As a saved and secure believer there may be times in your life when you disagree with what God has to say, or God’s guidance on your life. Has this ever happened to you? It has to me! I ran from God… disagreeing with God for over 10 yrs about surrendering to the ministry!
This is why Jesus told Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane, Mark 14:38 [ESV]
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak… This is also why Jesus frequently is found going off to a quiet place to pray… He was turning aside from the rigors of life… from the everyday issues and situations… so that He could refresh Himself in renewed submission to the Guidance and Will of the Father.
Jesus was God, but here on earth He had emptied Himself of certain things and although His position with God was never in doubt, but Jesus understood He must renew His submission on a regular basis because of the power of Satan in this world.
In Romans 12:1-2 [ESV] Paul says:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Here the Bible is telling us that we are to present our lives… our very own bodies… as living sacrifices. Our position before God is one of offering ourselves to Him for His use… for His purpose!
When we seek God, trust in God and are intentional about walking in the Spirit, we can know that our minds are being transformed… our walk with God is renewing our mind and clarifying our place in His kingdom!
How do we achieve this submission…it is only achieved through prayer!! This is how Jesus achieved His submission to the Father and it is how we submit to the Will of the Father!
Let’s remember what Jesus said in Luke 11:13 [ESV] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
God has given us the Holy Spirit as His representative... So it only stands to reason that if God’s representative is what indwells us… and we are seeking God’s Will for our lives… who would know the mind and will of God more than the One God has sent to indwell us! In other words the HS enables us to choose our actions wisely.
God has promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us and if we lack anything… we are but to come to Him and ask and He will provide! If God promises to provide guidance in our lives… can YOU trust His guidance? Are you willing to trust Him today?
Receiving God’s guidance means that we pray with an intentionality, we pray with a fervent intent, and we are called on to pray frequently, and submissively.
CONCLUSION:
I will assure you that when you are willing to submit and trust God and receive His guidance in your lives… WHEN you are willing to ‘have the mind of Christ’ in your daily walk with Him… you are going to experience some truly amazing things.
Circumstances that mean absolutely nothing to the natural mind take on special meaning to those with a spiritual mind. Events that unfold without special religious connotation become unique means of ministry in the name of Christ.
We cannot always perceive where our circumstances and these events will finally lead us, but when we have the ‘mind of Christ’ that is sufficient for our walk in this life.
This reminds me of the story of Samuel as a young boy in the Temple. When God spoke to Samuel in his dream, his mentor Eli tells Samuel to answer God, “…speak, for your servant hears…” 1 Sam 3:10 [ESV]
This HAS to be the daily prayer of the believer! If we have that ‘can do’ attitude and take that kind of action we are going to “receive” the guidance of God into our lives and it is going to cause great things in our life! God can and will use the obedient and submissive servant!
Last week we looked at SEEKING God’s guidance and today we have seen what it takes for the Christians to “receive” God’s guidance… a guidance that God has promised to all who believe in Him.
If you are here this morning and you know that Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life, you need to ask yourself this question. Am I receiving God’s guidance in my life? Am I allowing His Spirit, His knowledge and His invitation to pray to the Father influence my life?
Today we can only “receive” God’s guidance if we are open to His Word and His Will. To do this we must have his knowledge and Word in our hearts. This morning if you are here and you don’t know where you are going to spend eternity. If you are not sure if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then you also need listen to this message.
This morning if you feel that your life is out of control and you want to receive God’s guidance in your life then this message is also for you. God’s guidance only comes to those who acknowledge Him, trust in Him, lean on His wisdom, seek out His will, & put His will 1st in their lives.
To begin to receive God’s guidance in your life you must first acknowledge God for who He is. When we acknowledge God for who He is, the perfect and holy Creator God of the Universe, then we realize who WE are.
The apostle Paul said it best when he said, “…all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” Notice that Paul did not say some had sinned, but ALL had sinned.
This includes you! You are a sinner…God is perfect…how can you ever come to know Him on a personal level with that in your life?
The answer is very simple…God took care of everything. God sent Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of everyone in the world. Jesus came to die for your sins so that you could once again have a personal relationship with God.
If you want God’s guidance you must acknowledge Him and then trust in Him. Trust in Him as your personal Lord and Savior. Then He will begin to guide you, then he will begin to influence your life.
This morning if you are a Christian and have a decision you have made out of obedience to God I am going to ask you to share that joy with this fellowship. If you are not a Christian, but God is dealing with you and you have made the decision to follow Christ, I am going to ask you to share that decision with our fellowship.
Walking the aisle does NOT save you, speaking with me does NOT save you…Salvation comes from God and God alone, but you must accept His gift before he can begin to direct your steps! Won’t you come as Bro Steven comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation!
