Grow a Disciple Building Church
Part Two: Connect to the Christ of the Church
Introduction:
Jesus is the Christ, the Sovereign Lord of His Church. He reigns among Her with absolute power and control. He is the Chief Shepherd of His flock, the church. (1 Peter 5:4) He is the only Master and Lord of His Church. (Jude 4). These truths are the starting point for a person’s destiny toward eternity. You choose to hold onto Christ as your spiritual Lord and Guide or you cling to the world as your spiritual paradigm. Paul gives the church a clear contrast of this choice which you make every day.
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. (Colossians 2:18-19, NASB95) We either hold on to Christ or we let Him go. We either are supplied from Christ or we supply ourselves. We either are held together by Christ or we hold ourselves together. Growth comes from Christ or we manufacture fleshly growth.
The real question boils down to this: Are we going to become the Church of the Christ or a fleshly human institution? We become the Church of the Christ by responding to Christ in becoming His disciple, then we plug into Him as our all in all. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23, NASB95) He fills us, all of us, with all we will ever need. We look to Him for everything. He is all that we need in all things.
So, how do we connect to Him? We will discuss three processes today.
1. Participate in His Power
2. Be Enabled by Christ Strength
3. Serve Him Fearlessly
The first process,
Participate in His Power
Some may question whether it is possible to participate in Christ’s power. The Bible is clear. The gospel is the power of God (Rom 1:16) The word of the cross is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18) Christ is the power of God (1 Cor 1:24). We are protected by His power (1 Pet 1:5). His power grants to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3)
Can you participate in the gospel, the word of the cross, and Christ Himself? Can you participate in His protection, His life and godliness? Not only you can, but you must! Why? because "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7, NASB95) How? How do any of us participate in His power?
First, you present yourself to God and your members (mind, heart, eyes, hands, feet, etc) as instruments of righteousness to God. (Rom 6:13) You refuse to let sin reign over your mortal bodies. (Rom 6:12) Question: By what power do you refuse to let sin reign?
Second, you make a paradigm shift concerning power. You recognize two avenues of power: one narrow and the other wide; one easy and the other restricting; one leading to life, the other leading to death; one influenced by evil, the other influenced by God; one the power of the Spirit of God, the other the power of human flesh. This change of mind concerning power leads you to make a choice about how you are to relate to God.
Here are the two options:
a.) you may relate to God through a law system; or,
b.) you may relate to God through a disciple system.
There is no third option for relating to God and these two can not be combined; they exclude each other in much the same way as the New Covenant fulfilled and ended the Old Covenant. The details of these two systems will be covered in our Sunday morning classes.
Third, you recognize by being a disciple of Jesus that there is power in that system to transform you into the image of the Son of God. Your ultimate personal goal is to participate in His power to transform you into His image. (Rom 8:29)
Fourth, you present ourselves to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, like a slave [8] for obedience unto righteousness. (Rom 6:16) Through the experience of obedience to Christ as Lord, your inward man is strengthened, renewed, and transformed.
The second process,
Be Enabled By Christ Strength
How many times has it been said, "Oh no, I can’t do that!" When it comes to doing Christ’s will, "I can’t" is changed to "I won’t". This is true because of the enabling strength Christ delivers to His disciples. "I can’t" is the confession of a powerless victim. "I won’t" is an act of a strong will. Under law we are all powerless victims of sin’s reign. Under Christ’s reign we can do all things because He strengthens [9] us. (Phil 4:13) Circumstances can not defeat us carrying out Christ’s will and mission.
There are four ongoing stages you go through to possess the enabling strength that produces the results Christ desires His church to maintain.
Pray without ceasing
Nurture an ever increasing faith in Christ
Develop an intense desire to please Christ
Take specific determined actions
Prayer, faith, desire and action equals growing strong. Paul mapped this truth out for the church when he wrote to the Colossian church. ...., We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (Colossians 1:9-12, NASB95)
Here is the progression:
1. Paul prayed and they were to pray themselves without ceasing.
2. The prayer asked that they be filled with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Their faith surely increased when this prayer was answered.
3. The end result in the heart of Paul’s prayer included: walk like Christ, please Christ, bear fruit, gain experience with God. These occur only by taking action; specific and determined action.
4. The by-product of taking action includes: possessing enabling strength, steadfastness, patience, and thanksgiving.
It is noteworthy to notice that obedience ends with increased strength enabling continued obedience. The first act of obedience you take may be in timid weakness. But if by faith you obey, weakness is replaced by strength; strength enough to continue our walk of obedience. If the work of obedience you desire to do fulfills the will of Christ, then He will enable you to complete the work no matter how weak you see yourself in the beginning. Weakness under Christ’s enabling power is no longer a barrier to obedience of faith.
Thus, you are enabled to walk confidently in obedience with little or no experience. The strength of Christ will connect with you at just the time you need it. Fear, from an improper veiw of yourself and the supply of the strength of Christ, is nothing more the false evidence appearing real. You are not weak! As stated before, "Under Christ’s reign you can do all things because He strengthens you."
Thus, you can now commit to the third process,
Serve Him Fearlessly
Now that you have settled your confidence issue, never forget from whence your strength comes. Store in your heart the saying of Paul, "Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God." (2 Corinthians 3:4)
Paul is your best example for serving Christ fearlessly. He had overwhelming obstacles to overcome; humanly impossible obstacles. He had his past and then he had intense enemies. What an understatement!!! For us his testimony is very insightful.
While residing in Ephesus, Paul had an encounter. He used this encounter to encourage Timothy; it can serve as your encouragment as well. He wrote: "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (2 Timothy 4:14)
There is no substitute for inward strength; the kind of strength that increases through trials. You can’t fake courage under fire. Paul passed the test for four very basic reasons: 1. He knew he would never be alone. (The Lord stood with me.) 2. He knew from whence his strength came. (The Lord strengthened me.) Paul, like Daniel faced lions; but never alone and never without confidence that the creator of the lion was in control. 3. He knew no matter what, Christ would rescue him from evil, either in heaven or on earth. 4. Christ would bring him to His heavenly kingdom, any sacrifice was worth that reality.
Paul was not a super hero. He was a man, only a man; He was a frail human empowered within by the Christ. He was just like you, there is no difference between you and him. He did participate in the power of Christ. He was enabled by the strength of Christ. And, he did serve Him fearlessly. SO CAN YOU AND I!!! In fact, this personal reality is what identifies you with the church of the Christ.
Will you generate personal desire to:
1. Participate in the power of Christ every day.
2. Allow Christ to enable you by His Strength - every day walk in obedience, every day take courage, every day overcome your inward obstacles.
3. Serve Christ Fearlessly every day.
Doing these things will connect you with Christ.
You generate personal desire through affirmative prayer. Know for sure that God through Christ will answer affirming prayers. An affirming prayer has two functions: 1. It affirms the will of God and His Christ 2. It affirms the one praying to be enpowered to do the will of God and His Christ.
Ask yourself:
Is it God’s will that you participate in the power of Christ?
Is it God’s will that Christ strengthen you with the power of His might?
Is it God’s will that you serve Christ with confidence and courage?
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14, NASB95) He will do it.
Pray everyday until faith becomes sight; pray everyday until that which does not exist comes into being; pray this prayer everyday. Put it where you can see it everyday to be a reminder to you.
My Father, I thank you for allowing me to participate with your Son in His mission. I am grateful for His empowering presence. I am aware of His strength enabling me to be obedient and fulfil my responsibilities as His disciple. I thank you for the trials and obstacles that come my way. They serve to allow me to exercise my faith, determination, and perserverance. Please continue to allow Christ to strengthen me so that I can be effective in my service to you. Open my eyes, Lord, to see the opportunities you are placing in my path of life. I know I am never alone. Your Son is my strength and my protection. He is my confidence and courage and Lord. It is through His name I live and give you my gratitude. Amen.
Footnotes from -
Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New York: United Bible societies, 1996, c1989. :
[8] doulos - pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by someone or something—‘subservient to, controlled by.’
[9] endunamoo - to cause someone to have the ability to do or to experience something—‘to make someone able, to give capability to, to enable, to strengthen, to empower.’
