Wednesday 02/17/16
Series: The Pursuit of God
Message – The Universal Presence II
{The audio is divided into two sections. The 1st is where we read through part of the chapter and divide into groups for discussion. The 2nd is when we come back together as and share from our groups.}
Obedience & Surrender
Last week we read how in our pursuit of God, habitual obedience to Him is the fruit of our genuine love for Him. We also saw that God’s promise to manifest Himself to us is conditioned upon our love of Him.
Tozer said that there “must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work it is to show us the Father and the Son.”
In the following verses you will see the subjects (not necessarily the words) of Obedience and Surrender. As you read them pay attention to what the verses make you think – how they make you feel in regards to how you live your life and how you wish you lived your life. Jot those thoughts down BEFORE you address any of the questions below.
Php 2:12-13, “(12) Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; (13) for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
John 14:20-27, “(20) At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. (21) He who has My commandments and habitually keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (22) Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” (23) Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will habitually keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (24) He who does not love Me does not habitually keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. (25) “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. (26) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (27) Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Q. What part of the Godhead is at work in you?
Q. How aware are you of your joint partnership with Him in this work?
Q. Concerning this issue of “obedience and surrender” do you see your relationship with the Holy Spirit as that of…
A) A teacher and a student
B) A parent and a child
C) A mentor and an apprentice
D) A co-laborer who works WITH you.
While all the above are words used to describe our relationship with the Holy Spirit, it is most often the latter that is missing and is most often the key to co-operating with Him in His inner work of surrender and obedience leading to our experiencing the manifest presence of God.
The first three are always pointing out things which are good AND things which need changing. They are always holding up a standard to be met. While these can be healthy relationships and have their place, for most of us, it is not as relational as the latter.
When we view the Holy Spirit SOLELY as a Teacher, Parent and Mentor – He takes on the external role of the law to us. The law set forth a standard to which we were never able to attain. It was external to us and higher than us. It encouraged us towards behavior that was entirely “other than” our normal, practiced behaviors. In other words, it offered the potential of “life” – but could not deliver it.
In like manner, many Christians live with the Holy Spirit in the same way. They are aware of His promptings, they are encouraged towards holy behavior and yet they see both He and those “godly qualities” as living external to and higher than themselves. As such, most Christians live a life united to God but that enjoys little intimacy with Him.
The Holy Spirit is ALWAYS a co-laborer WITH us. As a personal example, many times, even in this very week, it became apparent that I was not thinking “united with Him” but living FOR Him. I “wanted to honor Him” rather than just doing it! When I made the slight adjustment in my thinking to co-operating with Him rather than performing for Him, I found the needed change came effortlessly and quickly … and within the Joy of intimacy. He MANIFESTED HIMSELF TO ME!
Tozer said, “If we co-operate with Him in loving obedience God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face.”
God revealed
Tozer said that God is always seeking to discover (reveal) Himself to us and that His love for each of us is the same so each of us can expect the same eagerness of the part of God to be known.
God has NO favorite children. In the same way that two children can grow up in the same home, be treated the same way by their parents and yet, have different degrees of intimacy with them – so it is with our Heavenly Father.
Tozer suggests that the difference does not lie in God, but in our receptiveness to His advances.
God was equally available to the Israelites as He was to Moses but their experiences could not have been more different!
Read the following verses and then discuss the questions below them. As you are reading, attempt to identify those qualities (from within the verses and from your knowledge of their lives) which distinguished Moses from the rest of Israel or Paul from the Philippians.
Psa 103:7, “(7) He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.”
Heb 3:7-13, “(7) Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, (8) DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS IN THE REBELLION, IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, (9) WHERE YOUR FATHERS TESTED ME, TRIED ME, AND SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS. (10) THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THAT GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS.’ (11) SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’ ” (12) Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; (13) but exhort one another daily, while it is called “TODAY,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Php 3:8-11, “(8) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (11) if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Q. How would you define “spiritual receptivity”?
Q. What do you see in Moses or in Paul that you do not see in those who followed them?
Q. Are these qualities ones you can have as well?
Tozer said, “Receptivity is not a single thing; it is a compound rather, a blending of several elements with the soul. It is an affinity for, a bent towards, a sympathetic response to, a desire to have…and it may be present in degrees… It is a gift of God.”
While it is a gift of God, it is not always one which is being offered. For Isaiah tells us,
“(6) Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” – Isa. 55:6-7
Tozer essentially said, that we are not willing to put the hard work into our relationship with God. We have been conditioned to requiring our spiritual growth to “come to us” in the form of edutainment, rather than “us to it” in the form of devotion and diligent search. Yet God is reaching out to be known.
Q. What do you believe this means to us in terms of our need to respond?
Q. One of the biggest lies the enemy successfully sells us is that our preoccupations with natural things (weights) or our besetting sins will not cost us. Somehow, we are the exception to the rule. What sins and what excess baggage do you carry around that is hindering your progress?
Q. What are things which are standing in your way of responding like this? (examples…laziness, flightiness, being easily distracted, way to pre-occupied with external things like entertainment, politics, money, work, feeling appreciated, holding grudges…etc.)
What will it take (to keep you from Jesus) – by Michael Card
What will it take to keep you from Jesus
Keep you from heeding His call
The simple excuse of a heart that is hard
A reason that’s nothing at all
And there was a man who was owned by his money
He was as rich as could be
But deep in his heart was a voice that was crying
Telling him he wasn’t free
When he questioned the Master
Concerning his problem
The answer took his breath away
For his money had come to mean more than his soul
Forever would stand in his way
(Chorus)
What will it take to keep you from Jesus
Keep you from heeding His call
The simple excuse of a heart that is hard
A reason that’s nothing at all
And how long before you stop with your reasons
Take your defenses away
It’s only a lie that keeps you from following
Don’t let it stand in your way
So many excuses and so many lies
Are blocking the Light and the Way
But the final decision to follow the Lord
Can shatter and blow them away
Once there was one who was lame in his body
Sick in his body and soul
Though he didn’t know all the facts about Jesus
He knew that he longed to be whole
So with some of his friends
He went seeking and found him
So many stood in their way
So they tore through the roof
And they lowered him down
For nothing could keep him away
This is where we left off this week. We will most likely resume from here next Wednesday…Blessings!
I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.
If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.
Blessings!
