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Sunday 11/03/24
Title: The Finish Line
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The Transforming Power of God’s Word
Since Easter we have been learning about our relationship with the Holy Spirit of God Who was given to us.
Given to dwell within us for personal transformation.
Poured out upon us for evoking transformation in others.
We have covered MUCH ground.
We looked at the gifts and callings of the Spirit.
We’ve learned about how to cooperate with the Spirit’s inner work – Love, acknowledge, treasure…etc.
We’ve zeroed in on Jesus being the One the Spirit is revealing to us so that we might be transformed into His image – we will see this in some scriptures today. But He does this so to establish the Rule of His kingdom and that we might receive the reward of the kingdom which is…
- Jesus’ image within
- The person of Jesus forever
Today we begin to look at the means of transformation which is God’s word!
God’s word is powerful…
- Creation
-
- Healing and transformation – “(19) Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. (20) He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” – Psalm 107:19-20
- Regeneration
The power of God’s word
Isaiah 55:6-13,
“(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. (8) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
(9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
(10) “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, (11) So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
(12) “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (13) Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the LORD for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
It causes transformation to life.
Psalm 119:1-11,
“(1) Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! (2) Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! (3) They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. (4) You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently. (5) Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes! (6) Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments. (7) I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments. (8) I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly! (9) How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. (10) With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! (11) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”
Stored up = inclined towards obedience
Mind renewal – Not Conformed – transformed
Romans 12:1-2,
“(1) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. (2) Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
Ephesians 4:17-30,
“(17) This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, (18) having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; (19) who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (20) But you have not so learned Christ, (21) if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: (22) that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, (23) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (24) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (25) Therefore, putting away lying, “LET EACH ONE OF YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,” for we are members of one another. (26) “BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, (27) nor give place to the devil. (28) Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (29) Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. (30) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Colossians 3:1-10,
“(1) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (5) Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (6) Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, (7) in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. (8) But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. (9) Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, (10) and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”
Romans 8:3-11,
“(3) For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, (4) that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
(5) For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
(6) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
(7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (8) So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(9) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (10) And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.”
Mind and life renewal BY Word and the SPIRIT
James 1:19-21,
“(19) So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; (20) for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (21) Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
Ephesians 5:24-27,
“(24) Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (25) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (26) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, (27) that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
2 Corinthians 3:1-18,
“(1) Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or like some, do we need letters of recommendation to you or from you? (2) You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone, (3) since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. (4) We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ: (5) not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. (6) He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life. (7) Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face–a fading glory– (8) how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? (9) For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. (10) In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious in this case because of the glory that surpasses it. (11) For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious. (12) Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness– (13) not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel could not look at the end of what was fading away. (14) But their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. (15) However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, (16) but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (17) Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (18) We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory;just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Titus 3:1-8,
“(1) Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, (2) to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. (3) For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, captives of various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.
(4) But when the goodness and love for man appeared from God our Savior, (5) He saved us–not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
(6) This Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so that having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. (8) This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.”
Jesus’ words are SPIRIT and LIFE
John 6:63-64,
“(63) The Spirit is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (64) But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would not believe and the one who would betray Him.)”
Life = zoe meaning spirit-giving and life producing
For ministry & life
John 17:6-8,
“(6) I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. (7) Now they know that all things You have given to Me are from You, (8) because the words that You gave Me, I have given them. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me.”
Kept = Observed attentively with eyes fixed upon it. They have guarded it or treasured it.
On a personal and humanly observed level consider that this is the way our natural lives work as well. Nearly every early transformation of character we experience in life comes from the influence and input of those around us. The one crucial point is that we must believe or trust the source. This is true even if it is bad.
The words which spring from the abundance of the heart hold the potential for transformation. These words are seeds which, if cultivated in the heart, will produce a harvest. Just like Jesus’ parable of the heart soils.
Blessings!
