-Transcript-
00:36 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the cafe.
00:41 Hope you’re doing great. Hope you’re having a wonderful day, a wonderful week. Here we are talking about the Christian walk.
00:46 We are in a multi-part series on the Christian walk and last episode we spoke about salvation. The idea that it’s difficult to understand what God has done for us if we don’t study His Word, if we don’t look into the Scriptures and see how great God has been to us. 2 Corinthians 5:7, For we walk by faith not by sight.
01:10 And we know the Bible says that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by theWord of God. And so we need to be in the Word to understand how we are to walk and to understand really the root of our Christian walk is in God Himself and in our salvation and everything that is born out of our salvation is how we live as a Christian. If we don’t understand what it meant to be saved, let me put it this way, if we don’t understand how to explain it to others what it means to be saved, then we’re in hot water.
01:44 Because that means that do we even know if we’re saved? Amen. So we really need to understand that salvation is more than just believers baptism. It’s more than just walking down and grabbing an altar and saying, okay, Lord, I love you.
01:57 We need to understand what it means to be saved, what Christ really did for us on the cross. We realize it’s not easy. It’s not what most people think.
02:06 It obviously needs to be clarified. And we looked at the Scriptures here on being born spiritually dead as the first Adam and then being made spiritually new from death to life. We looked at John 6. We also looked at Romans 6, the idea of being dead with Christ and also living with Him, and how this is very rare in Matthew 7 13-14.
02:29 We’re learning about the wide gate and the narrow gate. And the narrow gate, that narrow path, Amen, of the Christian walk, there’s not that many on there. And if you’re on that path, you really need to thank God because it is rare.
02:40 Many are headed for devil’s hell and very few, the remnant, the little group, are those that are truly saved. And that doesn’t mean that I’m trying to toot my own horn or make anybody else feel bad. But the truth is, if you can’t, again, if they don’t know what it means to be saved, if they haven’t trusted Christ in a way that they realize that they have a sin nature that they can’t overcome.
03:03 Can you imagine someone giving their faith to Christ, saying, okay, I’m gonna give my heart to Christ. I have faith in Christ. And then what happens is you end up living for the world, living in sin because you never realized what sin is or the sin debt that was paid for you.
03:18 That’s very confusing. And yet that’s where a lot of Christians, so-called Christians, are today. And so we need to thank God for our Christian walk.
03:25 And now as we move from salvation, we’re gonna move to present-day living as a Christian and appropriation. We must look at the idea of appropriating what has been given to us. Because, again, the last episode we spoke about salvation, and I spoke about it briefly here.
03:42 And now that we’re saved, we understand our salvation comes from the blood of Christ, understanding what that means. If you don’t understand what it means to be saved by the blood of Christ, go back to the Bible, start researching, go down Romans Road, understand what Christ has done for you individually, friend. Once we understand salvation, we need to look at appropriation, appropriating what’s been given to us.
04:04 This is a simple example, but this was just one that came to mind. In my day job, I work in digital advertising and stuff like that. And I had a client that needed help with something, and there was an advertising account.
04:19 And they had funded that account. And there was money to run advertisements, but no advertisements for running. And I went in there, and I noticed that the money had been funded to a master account, but had not been appropriated to the client’s account.
04:35 So even though the client had funded it, done everything, the way that this particular system worked is the money needed to be appropriated. It needed to be told what to do. It needed to be distributed.
04:44 And the same way that, and by the way, when that was done, everything worked great. Okay, by the way, you live for God. He’s gonna bless your work.
04:53 But that’s a whole other message. All right. The same way that that money was allocated, that was appropriated, is the same way that we must understand that all of this knowledge we have in Christ, if we aren’t applying it to our lives, it’s not appropriated.
05:07 Think about that. It’s not appropriated. And how do you appropriate that godly knowledge and wisdom and what’s in God’s Word to your daily walk, your Christian walk? It starts with submission to God.
05:19 It starts with submission to God. We submit to God, and that becomes the key cornerstone of our Christian walk, as Christ is the cornerstone, by the way. And this is kind of that cornerstone foundation of our Christian walk, is submitting to God.
05:34 We become slaves, like bond slaves to Christ. The idea is that we’ve been bought with a price, that we are no longer our own, Amen, that we are to serve God in that mentality. And again, that is so radical compared to what many modern-day Christians think, that they have liberty to just go sin, and that they’re their own person, and that everything in the world is for them to enjoy.
05:57 And then you say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We’ve been bought with a price. We are to identify with God.
06:03 I’m in the book of Numbers right now, studying in my morning Bible study, and they were not supposed to go around with this other people group. The Israelites weren’t. And there was an elder of the Israelites with a woman of the other people group when they weren’t supposed to do it.
06:17 I believe it was the Moabites. And the son, I think it was the grandson of Aaron, the son of Eliezer, took a spear and jabbed it right through that individual that was breaking God’s command, and the girl that was also breaking God’s command, and killed them both to stay off a plague. And I thought, why was God so pleased with that action? The reason is because he identified with God.
06:41 He said, God, you hate this. I hate this. God, this is a reproach to you.
06:47 It’s a reproach to me. God, I don’t want our people to suffer, so I’m gonna get the sin out of the camp. That’s how we have to live, and that’s radically different than how the world calls us to live.
06:51 So we are to appropriate our faith in a way that starts with submission to God. And by the way, this is how you get rid of the devil. James 4.7, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
07:03 You want to get rid of the devil? Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Look at the progression. Number one, submit.
07:13 Number two, resist. Number three, the devil leaves. Submit, resist, and the devil will leave.
07:22 It’s not that complicated. And so those, I believe, that maybe are struggling with satanic attacks often, and I know when you’re in the ministry, you’re gonna get them day in and day out. When you’re trying to live for God, you’re gonna get them day in and day out, and God will allow that testing and that trying of you to prove your faith.
07:34 Submitting to God is the only way to go. And that’s how you start appropriating your faith. Number one, by submitting to God.
07:40 And then, this is the great irony of the Bible, when you submit to God, then you’re living freely for Christ. You’re living freely in Christ. You have liberty in Christ.
07:51 It’s a great irony. You submit to God, you become a slave, and then God makes you free, because you’re no longer under condemnation. You’re living for Him.
08:00 You’re no longer under the law, amen. Even though the scorner probably wants to put you under the law, you’re not under the law, amen. You’re living freely in Christ.
08:08 So submit to God, then you can live freely. Then you study His word for instruction. 2 Timothy 2:15. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
08:23 We are called to study. You know, if you had a test, and the test was very important, and you had a book to read, would you just skim that book and then throw it on your bookshelf, or throw it in the back seat of your car, and maybe pick it up every now and again? No. You would study, and that means beyond just reading it, certainly you wouldn’t skim it, you’d read it, but then you’d look up the terms.
08:42 What are the definitions of these terms? What do the terms mean in context of everything I need to know? What else do I need to do to understand this? You would study to show yourself approved unto God. That’s what God wants you to do, that we shouldn’t be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We can speak boldly on behalf of God, because we’ve studied His word and His ways, which He has preserved, and the Holy Spirit helps us discern it, so that we can walk the Christian walk and appropriate our faith.
09:14 So number one, we submit to God. Number two, we’re able to resist the devil, and he’ll go away. And then number three, we study His scripture, and we’re able to appropriate the great gift of salvation that Christ gave to us into our daily lives by studying the word.
09:28 And just like anything in your life, if you spend a ton of time around it, it’ll shape you. You know, if all you do is play basketball, you’ll just start walking like a basketball player, talking like a basketball player, dribbling a basketball. Even if you don’t have one in your hand, you’ll be air dribbling, you’ll be wearing basketball clothes.
09:42 This is just what happens when you spend all your time around a basketball, around basketball players and teams and so on. Well, what happens when you spend all your time in God’s word, all your time saturating yourself in the word, in the scripture, through reading it and studying it and meditating on it, chewing the cud, as they say? Well, you’ll become more like God. Amen Is that not right? You’ll become more like God.
10:03 And that is the goal of the Christian walk, is to become more like God every day. And then as we do that, what we’re going to see is our priorities will shift. And so another way to appropriate our faith is to seek His kingdom first.
10:17 Matthew 6:33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,and all these things shall be added unto you. And so we realize that when we are walking the Christian walk, we are no longer walking in the lust of the flesh. We’re no longer walking in the desires of the flesh.
10:35 Matter of fact, we’re no longer thinking too much about what we want to do or what we need and this, that and the other. And we’re thinking about what God would have us to do, what God wants us, how God wants us to live and so on and so forth. And we are seeking His kingdom first.
10:50 And we have that mentality of, we need to be living for God and sold out to God and He’ll provide our needs. And that’s how that program works. You have a desire in your heart.
10:59 Let’s say you want to start a auto repair store and you have no idea how you’re going to do it. And the world tells you, you know, learn about starting an auto repair store and find all your suppliers and get a mentor and da, da, da. And the Bible is saying, okay, forget all that, seek me first and let’s see what I can do with you.
11:16 And you may be shocked at what God does with you. Maybe He does allow that desire of your heart to come true. Maybe He gives you something better.
11:26 Maybe you end up with a ministry helping people fix their cars that need it, that don’t have the resources. Oh, how God will bless those that seek His kingdom first. And oh, how rare it is.
11:33 I think of those kids in school and I’m not picking on the kids in school. I love kids and Lord loves kids. Amen.
11:38 That’s biblical. But what would it be like if one of those children in school just got on fire for God and said, you know what, all these things that these students are seeking, cell phones and popularity and status and girlfriends and boyfriends, all these things, I’m going to push all those to the side and I’m going to pour my whole heart into the Bible and seeking Him. What could God do through one young person like that? I believe a revival would break out in that school like we’ve never seen.
12:04 Seek the kingdom first. Appropriate the faith that has been given to you by taking action in a way that pleases God. And finally, for this part of the series here, find rest in Him alone.
12:16 Matthew 11:28, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavyladen and I will give you rest. Another way to appropriate our faith, to live out our faith, to distribute our faith, to put it into action is to run to God, to cast all your cares upon Him for He careth for you. To run to Him in those times of trouble, in those times of hardship.
12:41 You know, maybe God will throw a test our way, not just to test our patience or whatever, but also to see, okay, when that brother and sister is facing adversity, will they run to me for rest so that I can show them that I’ll give it to them? And He will. He’ll supply it in abundance. As Lord had called me to preach, it’s been a challenge to plant a church in a town that we’ve never really even spent any time in whatsoever.
13:05 It’s been a challenge, amen, prior to that, you know. And yet I run to the Lord for rest. My wife runs to the Lord for rest.
13:15 It’s effective. It works. He provides peace.
13:17 We’re appropriating our faith. We’re living it out. We are distributing what God has given us.
13:20 We are banking on His promises. We are holding Him to His promises. You know, God is a God of His Word.
13:27 God cannot lie. There is no variableness or turning with God. He is a God of His Word.
13:32 And so when He says, come to me, I’ll give you rest, why don’t you go to Him and He’ll give you rest? Oh, seek Him. Seek Him early when He may be found. Turn to the Lord.
13:40 Appropriate your faith. Do something with it, Amen. Distribute it out.
13:45 Do these things and you’ll be blessed. Remember to study His Word, to resist the devil, and he’ll flee, to seek the kingdom first, to go to Him and rest, to understand that submission is the most important thing. To be obedient is better than to sacrifice, and God will bless.
14:01 I thank you so much for joining me. Tune in next time for the rest of the series. Take care.
14:05 God bless and Amen.