And the rest is details...

Romans 8:15-17
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

The fresh, new wind of the Holy Spirit

NOTE: What I wrote below is my observations. I came to the central insight a long time ago, and had it renewed a couple of weeks before Mike began his teaching about newness. And what I have heard him say over the last three weeks seems to confirm my observations.

I have been pondering over something for several weeks now. I have had two different people talk to me about the teachings at church. Having been in this particular church for 25 years, I am very used to the pastors and how they teach. Used to it to the point of no longer noticing (or being blind to) what they are up to.

The first comment was something about their teaching that I had heard the person make previously, and then recently heard again. I will not repeat it here because of what I am about to say, and because the person who said it will be instantly recognizable. It stimulated a lot of thought on what the pastors talk about, how they do it, and what their expectations are.

The second was a comment my wife made. She observed that the elders have never done a teaching on heaven, and rarely mention heaven in church. (Other than as the “kingdom of heaven.”) This was not meant as a criticism, just an observation. My wife had been watching two Bill Gaither “Homecoming” videos on heaven. She had been very moved by them. It helped that a lot of the hymns on the videos were ones that she had sung growing up and had not heard in many years.

Being who I am, I immediately took what she said and generalized it. I realized that the pastors actually rarely take on any of the common “theological” topics: salvation, grace, eschatology, prayer, apologetics, or whatever else. At least as individual, self-contained topics. In fact, we are a charismatic church whose pastors did not talk about the baptism in Holy Spirit for years. And it is not because we lack the intellectual firepower in the pews to handle intense theological discussions.

So what are they doing and why?

The long and short of it is that they are listening to the Holy Spirit. That determines the general topic, how the topic is focused (that is, the specific theme of the teaching), and the outline of what is to be said. In the end, they rarely do the three-point sermons beloved of professors in theological seminaries. They are listening to today’s, fresh, new wind of the Holy Spirit. (Which was actually the topic of today’s teaching.)

They teach what He is prompting them to teach.

And they expect each of us in church, and they include themselves in this, to go to the Holy Spirit. They expect to have the Holy Spirit extract for each of us what He wants to talk to us about. It may be an attitude that needs to be adjusted. It may be sin to repent of. It may be an action that He wants us to take. Or to stop taking (even righteous actions may be less than what He wants from us at a particular time.) It may be just being still and listening to Him.

The primary focus of what they say, for as long as I have been here, has been on what Jesus is saying. [Mike’s emphasis on “Today, if you hear His voice” is typical.] Their emphasis is on an on-going, sustained relationship with Jesus. And the teaching on a Sunday morning is just one, possibly minor, aspect of that on-going relationship.

However, there is a problem with what they do. Sort of. It is not their problem. It is a problem on the part of the listener. The listener has to be listening in a particular way. The listener must be constantly attentive to both the teaching, and to the Holy Spirit. Or be willing to take notes and then pray over them during the week. Meditate on them. Listen for the fresh, new wind of the Holy Spirit.

If a person is unwilling to listen this way, it is going to be frustrating. If they are not willing to ask others for help, it is going to be frustrating. If they want a theology lesson, it is going to be frustrating. If they want to leave church feeling good, it is going to be frustrating. If they want to have their ears tickled, they may be satisfied for a few Sundays, and then it is going to be frustrating. If they want a “good work of the week” to perform, it is going to be frustrating. That is not how they operate.

Newness, cont. Putting On Newness.

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching from Sunday, March26th. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mystifications are my fault (or something like that). All verses are from NASB 1995. I added some scripture references to things that Mike alluded to, but did not actually quote the scriptures. See brackets [].

Newness, cont. Putting On Newness.

Manna in the wilderness: newness and oldness were only a day apart. Good one day; old, wormy, and rotten the next. [Exodus 16] Our hearts and minds get excited by newness. New projects are exciting. But, by about 3/4 of the way through a project, it gets hard because it now old, and you are tired of oldness. It is hard to get it to the end.

Hebrews 3:12-13
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

So, how does deceitfulness crawl into us? One day at a time. We are either encouraging one another, pressing in to newness each day. Or the heart will harden. And hardening can result from holding onto yesterday’s newness.

What was Israel holding onto in the wilderness? Yesterday, the things of Egypt. [Exodus 16]

Why does God recycle things back into our lives, our minds? So that He can make them new again.

The Holy Spirit is compared to the wind. [John 3:8] Does the wind blow from the same direction everyday? No. Is it the same wind each day? The Holy Spirit makes old, well-read scriptures new to us all the time.

Colossians 3:5-17
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,
7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

“Put on the new self”
“Put on a heart of compassion, kindness...” This list is like the fruit of the Holy Spirit [Galatians 5:22,23] The fruit of the spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives AND we have to also put on these things. Both our work and the Holy Spirit's.

Patience, compassion, forgiveness, etc. are all hard work. We have to put them on. Anger, lying, etc are not hard.

It is work to put on the things God wants us to put on.

[Added. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.]

We should not recognize the old creature, but be recognized as new creatures. I am called to be made new again. Just because I was new yesterday, does not mean that I am new today.

[Added. Ephesians 6:11
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Context - Ephesians 6:11-18). ]

Newness doe not just happen, it must be put on.

Adoption. We have all been adopted by God, but He did not “poof” [by magic] us. [Romans 8:15] We have to receive what He is doing. Each day. We have to receive adoption, put on the new self, put on the armor of God, etc.

The disciples had to “put on” being “fishers of men.” They probably did not realize what Jesus meant when H e called them, not even when was teaching or when He died. They probably began to realize when they received the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Then they had a new Helper to explain it to them, to show them how to do it.

Colossians 3:10-16
“Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge...”
“Put on the bond of unity”
“Allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts”
“Allow the word of God to dwell richly in us”

[Added. Matthew 9:16-17
16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk [new] cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”]

Are we putting on the old or the new?

Are we putting new wine into new, flexible, wineskins? Or are we putting old wine into old, stiff, inflexible wineskins? If we say that the old wine is good enough, we are unlikely to get new wine.

Prayer: Lord, what are you saying about newness and oldness? Lord, we ask you to speak to us again today. We thank you for speaking to us yesterday. Teaching us, reminding us yesterday. But we ask for it again today.

And help us to encourage and remind each other to hear You again today.

Remind us to live in newness, and not be satisfied with oldness.

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching from Sunday, March19th. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mystifications are my fault (or something like that). I also “zoned out” a couple of times, so I know I missed things. All verses are from NASB 1995.

Things in brackets [] are my additions.

Isaiah 42:1-4
1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

This is about Jesus the King. He was not “disheartened or crushed.” He died on a cross, but this did not “dishearten or crush” Him.

Isaiah 42:5-8
5 Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
6 “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you,
And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 “I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.

The wilderness was a forming place for the covenant people of God. God had established a covenant, a contract, with the His people. He put them in the most corrupt [Babylon] and barren [wilderness] places. And there He purified and prospered them.

People have asked Mike to prove the existence of God. His answer could be look at the beauty and complexity of the world. But people have been told that this is a result of evolution.

But he can point to one thing that defies explanation: the continued existence of the people of Israel. Why have they continued to exist? Because they are a “covenant people.” God has preserved them in face of centuries of persecution. [He made them to be a “light to the nations.”]

He was faithful to them, even when they were not faithful to Him, as in the wilderness. He did not give them the land of Israel because they were perfect or because they were faithful. He gave it to them because He chose them to have it. [He does the same with us.]

Either you are terrified of a God like this or you are glad that you know Him.

Isaiah 42:9-10
9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it.
You islands, and those who dwell on them.

So, what is our response to this kind of God? Sing a new song. Why? Because God is who He has said He is. Who He is does not depend on who I am or how faithful I have been , or who He was to me 10 years ago. His mercies are new this morning and every morning. If I hear His voice today, I am to respond to Him today.

Isaiah 42:11-13
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,
The settlements where Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,
Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
And declare His praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord will go forth like a warrior,
He will arouse His zeal like a man of war.
He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry.
He will prevail against His enemies.

God is a warrior, but He does not war against men. He goes to war for people. His covenant people are to sing a new song.

Ps 51 “ Psalm of David, who Nathan, the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” See 2 Samuel 11,12.

David had sinned, and he was caught in the sin. He then cried out to God. He did not have to. But if David was gong to be a man after God’s own heart, he needed to walk in purity. He had not done so, and now he repented. And he repented publically.

He asked God to spare the live of the child that he, in his sin, had created. He lay on the ground, and refused to eat. When the child died, then he washed and went into the house of God and worshiped. He went into the house of the God who had not answered his prayer.

Ps 51 was written out of his experiences: sinning and repenting.

God did not spare the life of the child, but he was still compassionate to David.

Psalm 51:1,4
1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

4 Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.

David’s transgression was against God and against Him alone. David could not undo what happened to Uriah, Bathsheba, the baby, and his own reputation.

The only thing that he could do, the only hope he had was that God would bring restoration.

He had destroyed his reputation, and his ability to do things in his own strength. His new reputation was now staked on God. Not his own strength. He went into the house of God to worship. “I stake my claim on God and what does with it is His business.”

Psalm 51:13
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.

I am not going to be their king, but their teacher:”Look at God.”

He could not be king except by letting God be king.

Repentant sinners testify best to the grace of God. The rest of us testify to the things we do or have happen to us.

Newness

Newness

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching this morning. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mystifications are my fault (or something like that). All verses are from NASB 1995.

Matthew 9:16-17
16 “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
17 “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Newness is not an age-related issue, but a state of the heart. Who is interested in new things?

Jesus chose 12 disciples from among those who were not normally noted for religious devotion. He taught them new things. He had great conflict with those who knew the old things. They had already figured out how God wanted things to be.

Our lives can be new everyday, or it can be the same old thing. Whose choice is this? Ours or God’s?

Isaiah 42:10a
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth!

Here, and many places elsewhere, God encourages us to sing a new song. The words may be old, but the heart and the attitude towards them may be new. Or they may be a new song, with new words.

Psalm 51:10
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

How do you renew your spirit?

What lives in our hearts?
The Holy Spirit
Thoughts. Evil thoughts are old, part of the old man. Good thoughts renew. Our mind needs to be changed.
Faith - seeing our faith increase brings newness.

Psalm 103:5
5 Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Renewed youth, vitality, energy.

What tires us? What makes us old? Discouragement, emotional and mental. We need a renewed heart and a renewed spirit.

Colossians 3:8-16
8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The new self. What is involved? Knowledge, the heart, the mind, and effort. There are lot of action verbs and action in the passage. “Put on.” “Be renewed.”

Newness does not just mean a “mighty rushing wind out the east.” We need to “put on” newness ourselves. We need to make the effort.

“Receiving/receive” is a common word in scripture. It is an active word. [Note: Tom likes to illustrate this by taking out his wallet and handing it to someone. They have to “receive” it or it falls to the floor.] We need to actively receive, reach out, take, putting something on, allowing ourselves to be open [to newness, or whatever].

The wineskins must be flexible enough to receive new wine.

Colossians 3:8-12
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

“Put on” newness.

Romans 12:1,2
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

God is in the business of transformation. It is not destructive. It is going from one thing to another. New things change and transform us. Renewal is not a bad thing.

Last week was about compassion. Jesus was not only new, He was transforming. The things that He taught transformed others. Look at the disciples, how they changed from the way the were when He called them to they way they were in the book of Acts.

These is a link between newness and renewal on one hand and compassion on the other.

The disciples were not only transformed, themselves, from sinner to saints. But they were also radically transformed, vocationally, from fishermen to fishers of men.

One of the transforming or renewing factors that affected the disciples was compassion. Compassion moved Jesus. It became a motivating factor in the lives of the disciples.

It motivated them to transform occupationally from fishermen to fishers of men.

Some additional verses on newness:

2 Corinthians 4:11-18
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Ephesians 4:20-24
Titus 3:1-7.

Holy Brethren

Hebrews 3:1. NASB 1995.
1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;

Holy - set apart, saints, “set-apart ones.”

Brethren - the children of God the Father, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the body of Christ, a family united by the Holy Spirit.

As I was reading Hebrews 3, this phrase really struck me. I have let “the Word dwell in my richly” the last couple of days, letting the Lord turn it over in my mind, speaking to me about through the day.

I’ve spent some time thinking about my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Praying for them as the Lord leads. Reminding myself that they are “holy brethren.”

And the rest is details...

Matthew 11:25-30. NASB 1995.
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
26 “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
27 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

With a thanks to Tom.

The compassion of Jesus

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching this morning. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mistifications are my fault (or something like that).

Colossians 3:12. NASB 1995.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience...

Most of these focus on our behavior towards others. We do not usually focus these on ourselves. They are mostly focused on others in the church. Jesus focused these on those outside the church.

Jesus is an example of having a heart of compassion.

Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus had compassion on the tax-gatherer, and he ended up eating with Matthew, tax-gatherers, other sinners, and his disciples. This offended the Pharisees. But Jesus had compassion even for them, telling them to learn something from the Bible: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’”

Jesus laid out his desire: “I came for sinners.” His motivation was compassion. He wanted those who were good at sacrifice to learn to be compassionate.

Matthew 9:35-38
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Jesus came teaching, proclaiming, healing. Why? He felt compassion. They were “distressed and downcast.”

Compassion, not theories, not duty, not philosophy.

Matthew 14:13-16
13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

Jesus felt compassion for them so he healed them and fed them.

Matthew 15:32
32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

Jesus felt compassion, so he fed the multitudes.

Compassion is not a feeling that gives goose bumps. It was the state of Jesus’s heart that moved him to the things that he did.

Matthew 18:23-27
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

Jesus teaching about compassion. The king who felt compassion for his servant who was also his debtor. Jesus was teaching about himself in the form of a story.

Matthew 20:34
34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

Jesus healed the blind out of compassion.

Luke 7:1-10. The story of the centurion with the sick servant. Jesus saw his faith and was moved to heal him.

Luke 7:11-17. Jesus raised a man from the dead because he had compassion for the mother.

Luke 15:11-24. The story of the prodigal son. The father felt compassion for his son. Again, Jesus was telling a story about his own compassion for the lost and sinful.

Philosophy, good ideas, the way of the world would have required that the father wait for the son to return, confess his sin, and wait and see if he had really repented.

Compassion drove the father to run to his son, embrace him and order a celebration.

So, where do you get compassion?

Jesus was God and man. Was it a human emotion, or just something special to the God side of the Jesus?

Colossians 3:12. NASB 1995.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience...

Paul saw it as something for all of us. Something that we can put on.

We can not look at people through the lenses of right and wrong. Looking at people through the lenses of right and wrong does not bring compassion.

Mike: “I need a huge does, an IV of compassion. I do not need a shot once a day. I need to be hooked up 24/7.”

Jesus could heal and teach all day long. He seemed to have huge amounts of compassion. Where did it come from?

It is free, It will cost everything. But it is free.

Pray for compassion.