Jesus Christ: Wholly Above Us and Wholly Among Us, Supreme Yet Personal

Sunday, January 1, 2017 – New Heights Christian Church, Kent, WA – Dr. Daniel Folden God’s Gift of Self-Discipline and a 21 Day Journey to a Christ Awakening 7 … God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1 7 (NIV84) ------[Note to readers. This symbol  suggests you look up to view a new PowerPoint slide.] If the election of Donald Trump has diminished your hope for your future or if his election has diminished your concerns about your future, I want to recommend that it is very important that you refocus your attention on Jesus Christ. It is true that our governmental and political leaders have an impact on our lives both for good and ill and may be the very instruments of God to carry out His will and plan for this world. But, if our post election feelings, be they of greater hope or of dissolved hope, have led us to cry out to our Lord Jesus Christ less, we then have a bigger problem. Somehow we are forgetting that  Jesus Christ is Lord over every government and political leader. He alone is worthy to be the One in whom we place our greatest hope. Let’s be honest. Some of us were greatly concerned about the direction of our country under the leadership of President Obama. We prayed hard that God would hear our cry and turn things around. So let’s just say that some of us think that God answered our prayer. Does that mean that our hope is now to be placed in President Trump and Jesus retreats into the shadows? No way! Our distress that led us to pray elevated our need for Jesus, maybe even getting our relationship back to where we knew it should be in the first place. But now with some relief to our distress, instead of calling on our Lord less, we must give ourselves even more to the One we called on to lead us out of our distress. It’s not time to reduce our attention to our Lord Jesus. It never is the right time to do that. But now, all the more, we must bind ourselves to Jesus Christ.  The One who leads us out of darkness and into the light is also the One who best keeps us in the light and takes us into the richness of His life. The words of the hymn writer state it clearly: “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Jesus is the only Person worthy of our greatest hope. Let’s never forget that and now keep pressing on to Jesus. But let’s continue to be honest. Some of us were deeply concerned that a Trump presidency would stop the progress of the past 8 years and now we’re fearful and even feeling hopeless. And so I ask, where is Jesus in this circumstance? Could it be that this experience of a rise and fall of our hope for our life and our circumstances is giving us the opportunity to rediscover or discover for the first time what hope placed in Jesus Christ means to our daily living and for the bigger picture of eternity? But we may say, “I don’t think that Jesus will get me to where I want to go. So,  why would I place my hope in Him?” And that’s a good question and worthy to be pursued. For all of us, be we in the camp of the political right or left or somewhere in between or totally uninvolved,  it is the Lord Jesus Christ who has promised and provided for the most fulfilling hope we could ever have in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. And so I come to you on this first day of the New Year to  invite you to participate with me in a 21-Day Christ-Awakening Journey that will ask of you to reserve 20-30 minutes each of those twenty-one days to listen to a very encouraging and challenging video and read and reflect on a short passage of Scripture that surely will enlarge your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. But first, I want to speak on the topic of  “God’s gift of self-disciple or self-control.” This topic is appropriately coming at the beginning of a new year when we get those new calendars from our banks and dental offices. And even if you’ve gone to a totally digital calendar, it is still up to you to fill in those calendars with important appointments and events to which you are committing yourself. And as I was thinking about  the self-discipline that God calls us to

1 exercise in the filling in of our calendars, I was inspired to see what the Bible says about self- discipline and self-control. So my point this morning is that  self-discipline and self-control are gifts from the Spirit of God given within a set of multiple character qualities and we receive them in exchange for surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ. Take note of Paul’s encouragement to Timothy.  2 Timothy 1:3–12 (NIV84) 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (sound-mindedness in action). What do these words of Paul suggest may be going on within Timothy? Positively, Paul affirms the faith that lives within Timothy. It’s a sincere faith. It’s a genuine faith, a true faith, a real faith as opposed to an empty faith where a person’s actions don’t back up his expressed faith or don’t back up what he says he believes. So Paul is very confident that  Timothy has sincere faith. We know from what Paul said about Timothy in his letter to the Philippian church that Paul thought very, very highly of Timothy. Philippians 2:20–22 (NIV84) 20 I have no one else like him (Timothy), who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. Timothy was a tested and proven servant who placed the interests of others ahead of his own. That’s a very high commendation to receive from someone like the Apostle Paul. And yet, Paul calls Timothy to two very specific actions, both of which raise the question:  why does a person like Timothy who has such a sincere faith and such a proven record of selfless service need these exhortations? And if Timothy needs these exhortations, could it be that we do also? The  first exhortation from Paul to Timothy is to “fan into flame the gift of God.” But why does Paul need to remind and urge Timothy to put some more wood on his fire and take his bellows and blow air on his smoldering ashes? I suggest that Paul’s next words may give us a hint. Paul immediately speaks of  what God doesn’t give his followers: God doesn’t give us a spirit of timidity or a spirit of fear. And for Paul to point that out immediately after urging Timothy to fan into flame the grace of God that is within him, it strongly suggests that Timothy is possibly getting a bit weak-kneed, a little wobbly on his feet or backing away from the spiritual battle into which God is calling him. But notice how Paul instructs Timothy on  how to get his spiritual fire burning strongly again. Paul stresses the grace of God as the source of rekindling and reviving his love and service for the Lord. He says,  “Timothy, God gave us … a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (or of sound-mind in action). Now let me appeal to Paul’s powerful statement in verse 12 to highlight  how God gives His graces or gifts like power and love and self-discipline. Here in verse 12, Paul is speaking about why he is not ashamed of Christ and His gospel. He says, 12 …. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

2 Do you see the exchange that Paul is speaking of?  Paul entrusts his life to Jesus and Jesus guards Paul’s life. And in guarding his life, Jesus brings God’s graces, God’s gifts, into Paul’s life, graces like power and love and self-discipline. Notice,  self-discipline is a gift from the Spirit of God and God gives it within a set of multiple character qualities. We see God package self-control in a variety of different packages like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. And in 2 Peter 1:5-8, the package is the effective Christian life. Each of these multiple sets of godly character qualities contain self-control. In this case in 2 Timothy, the package includes power and love and self-discipline. I won’t take time to expand on this, but this package suggests that  power, love and self-discipline are a team that works together to fan into flame the fire of our faith in Christ to keep our relationship with Him alive and fresh and growing. So  Paul’s first assignment to Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God begins to be fulfilled when Timothy once again entrusts his life to Jesus. And in entrusting his life to Jesus, Timothy is blessed with more of God’s grace and this fanning of Timothy’s flame, this renewing of Timothy’s love for and dependence on the Lord, reawakens Timothy’s desire to walk in obedience to his Lord. And he is empowered to go deeper with Christ by these gifts from the Holy Spirit.  Paul’s second assignment or exhortation to Timothy was to suffer with him for the gospel. This specific assignment may give us yet another clue as to why Paul needed  Timothy to review once again how his relationship with Christ is sustained. Jesus is not a ticket we hold in our hand for a future one-way trip to heaven. He is our new life now with whom we grow and live. Some times we sit at His feet and are reminded of who He is as King of the universe and as the Son of God who destroyed death and brought life to light by His life. Other times we are out on the battlefields of this world standing strong as His soldiers. Other times we’re out on the battlefield extending our Lord’s compassion for those needing someone to point the way to life and hope. From what we learned from our study of First John,  Jesus invites us into a partnership to share in His mission and His victories, and to grow into His likeness as we pour our lives into Him. Living in Christ’s presence shatters our fear of what men might do to us for carrying His light and love and truth into this world. And Paul, sensing that Timothy needed a reawakening to the power and greatness of Christ, urged him to fan into flame the gift of God, to fan into flame the grace from God that was now within him.  8 So (Timothy) do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me His prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. Let me ask you, how is your devotional life? How is your daily time alone with our Lord in His word and in prayer? What is your plan to get to know in personal terms your Savior and Lord so you can say with the Apostle Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day”?

3 Could it be that you are longing for a refreshing of your relationship with Christ? Would you like to be awed again by His greatness and majesty and sovereignty?  Would you like to be more confident that when you entrust your life into Jesus’ hands that He will truly guard your life with His? Two days before Christmas, I received an e-mail from my dear friend David Bryant inviting me to join with many Christian brothers and sisters in New York City in a  21-Day Journey into a Christ Awakening. In essence, he was inviting me to fan into flame once again the grace of God that had been given to me in Jesus. As I reviewed the outline for those 21 days, I became intrigued. And so I went through the first five days and was so encouraged by what I was hearing, I began to hope that many others at New Heights would join me in this journey. Then I set for myself to finish all 21 days this past Monday and Tuesday, creating a journal with some Scriptures to examine that would reinforce the teaching that was presented in each daily video. And I came out of that experience all the more convinced that I needed to invite and challenge all of you to go with me on this 21 day journey. To be frank,  to benefit from this journey, it will take self-discipline. It will take an investment of at minimum 20-30 minutes each day. You will need to go into your personal calendars and block out at least 30 minutes for each of the next 20 days. Why only 20? Because we’re going to do the first day together right here, right now. But you noticed, I said this would take self-discipline. But where do we get that? It comes to us as a gift from God as we fully surrender our lives to Him. It’s part of that exchange we saw in Paul and what Paul was encouraging Timothy to give himself to, that of first giving himself to Jesus and then receiving in exchange power and love and a sound mind in action as gifts from the Holy Spirit. This action of giving ourselves to Jesus Christ is fanning into flame the grace of God that is within us as His children. God gives us the power and love and discipline to fill out our schedule with Christ honoring activities, including daily times alone with our Lord in His Word. And this 21 Day Adventure into the awesomeness of Christ’s glory and sovereignty has the very real potential of fanning into flame your spiritual fire, awakening you to the beauty and splendor of Christ. Our friends at  ChristNow.com have put together a set of 21 five-twelve minute videos covering a wide array of who Christ is and how He invites us to participate in His mission that leads to the glorious culmination of history at the coming of a new heavens and a new earth. I have given each of you  the official journal for this journey. To my great surprise, when I sent David a copy of what I had prepared to give you, he wrote back and said he wanted to incorporate it into their entire 21 Day Journey. The instructions are there in the folder. If you have your smart phone with you today, you can download the app right now. Look for it  SaturateNYC. You can also use your computer to open up these videos. So, let’s do Day 1 together. First we’ll watch the video. Then we’ll examine the Scripture text from Colossians 3 and give you some time to respond to the question. We’ll then have you talk to each other about what you heard and read. Then we’ll move to an important time at the Lord’s Table. And if any time remains, we’ engage in conversation about my sermon and my invitation. http://saturateny.org/resources/21_day_devotional/ From the Apple APP: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/saturate-nyc/id1114224523 From GooglePlay: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app_saturatenyc.layout

4 #1 King Jesus Glasses

Colossians 3:1–17 (NIV84) 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy 1 Since, then, you have been raised with and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and 13 Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set patience. Bear with each other and forgive your minds on things above, not on earthly whatever grievances you may have against one 14 things. 3 For you died, and your life is now another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who over all these virtues put on love, which binds is your life, appears, then you also will appear them all together in perfect unity. with Him in glory. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to since as members of one body you were called 16 your earthly nature: sexual immorality, to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is admonish one another with all wisdom, and as coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with 17 life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever yourselves of all such things as these: anger, you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you the Father through Him. have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Based on all the imperatives in this passage, just how encompassing is Christ’s reign as King over my life?

Communion Amen!