My name is Tracy L. Tiritilli. I am the small group leader. I encourage anyone reading or following this blog to enter into a discussion about what we are studying. The purpose is to help believers grow and gain everything they need from the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel and "save others by snatching them from the fire..." Jude 1:23 NIV
No matter what study materials we will select for the group, we will always go back to these two vital aspects of growing and spreading the gospel: Get Wisdom, Receive Power.
Why "Get Wisdom, Receive Power"?
Power
Though we mention wisdom first, we're going to start with talking about power.Jesus, after His resurrection and prior to His ascension into heaven, did not immediately tell His apostles to spread the gospel broadly. Instead He commanded them "wait."
Why? What were they waiting on?
Acts 1:4-8 (NIV)
"On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Then they gathered around him and asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'" (emphasis added)
He wanted them to wait because He did not expect them to try and do this work with human strength. He expected them to do it through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. He promised to send them the Holy Spirit to empower them to see to it that the gospel would be spread throughout the earth. He knew the opposition and even persecution they would face.
The persecution started in Acts chapter 5. As the narrative goes on in Acts, the persecution grows. The apostles needed the boldness the Holy Spirit gave them so that they would not shrink back in fear. They needed boldness to help them speak the gospel in the face of torture and death. The power of the Holy Spirit also provided them with the words to speak when they were needed. Overall, the power of the Holy Spirit provided them with everything they needed to be Christ's witnesses.
That hasn't changed! Jesus does not expect that you can live a holy life or be His witness on your own "steam." To be successful, you must receive the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit lives in you, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior:
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (emphasis added)
1 John 4:4 (NKJV)
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (emphasis added)
This is good news...all you have to do is ask "He who is in you" to continually empower you. You need to ask, though—He won't force it on you. One reason you need to do this because it keeps you sharp and mindful of your need of Him! (We may at another time talk about other reasons why you must ask for the continual in filling of Holy Spirit power.)
The Holy Spirit never leaves you. But if you ask, any time you need His power, He will give it to you for whatever situation you face. We know that when we ask, we WILL receive because He has promised this to us.
Matthew 7:7 (NIV)
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
Wisdom
With all the lies the enemy has devised and thrown at us, the acquisition of God's Wisdom is vital.
The culture is rife with lies that are intended to keep people from embracing the truth of Jesus Christ and being saved from an eternity in hell. This is the result of Satan's great hatred for God. We mean so much to God that the enemy uses us to hurt Him. If he can blind a human being to the truth of God, then he can ensure they go to hell and suffer for all eternity. And since the person is so beloved by God, this hurts God terribly.
People have listened to the lies and are blinded to the truth of God. But this falls in line with what Scripture says about apostasy in the last days:
1 Timothy 4:1-2 (NIV)
"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NIV)
"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
A primary lie the enemy has told the world—one that many, many have believed, both believer and nonbeliever alike—is that the Bible is not truly the word of God. Part of this lie is that the Bible is filled with error and cannot be relied upon as absolute truth. Even those who call themselves believers are utterly rejecting what the Bible says (about MANY things) in favor of what the culture says.
The culture says how you FEEL is what is important. The culture says that how you FEEL drives your reality.
The culture rejects the notion that people are fallen, sinful. Therefore the culture asserts that what you FEEL is never wrong, and that people don't need to worry about notions such as sin. The culture would rather be lovers of themselves (humanism) than lovers of God. The culture preaches a love of pleasure (hedonism) rather than a love for holiness, which is the nature of God.
Notice that Paul prophesied about this in his instructions to Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NIV)
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."
If you have been paying attention, I think you can recognize our current world in Paul's prophecy!
Hebrews 11:25 states that sin is indeed pleasurable, but not for long. The pleasure of sin is fleeting. If we turn to the wisdom of the world and rely on how we FEEL, then we will follow the whims of pleasure and set ourselves up for letdown after letdown. But if we deny ourselves and embrace the truth and wisdom of Christ, we will find a satisfaction that endures.
This is why we must resist the urge to embrace the messages of the culture and instead seek the wisdom of God. Here are some Scriptures about the wisdom of God vs. the "wisdom" of the world:
1 Corinthians 3:18-19 (NIV)
"Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become 'fools' so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness'."
1 Corinthians 1:18-21 (NIV)
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."
The world does not seek the wisdom of God. They reject God and rely on their own wisdom, and therefore are vulnerable to Satan's lies—they buy into them, fall for them hook, line, and sinker. Satan has managed to convince even believers that what the Bible says isn't actually the truth.
Do not fall for this.
The arguments are VERY convincing, and refuted only through the wisdom of God. If you are not seeking His wisdom, you are in danger of falling for the lies and falling into apostasy. Wisdom is vital. Though it cost everything you have, get it!
How do you get the wisdom of God? Here is the good news:
James 1:5 (NIV)
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."
Yup, just as with Holy Spirit power, to get wisdom...all you have to do is ask!
God WANTS to give us His wisdom. Simply ask Him! And do not doubt that He will give it to you. He promises that you WILL have it if you ask for it. Keep seeking, keep knocking, keep asking.
Luke 11:9-10 (NIV)
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Remember, too, that when you utterly reject the message of the culture, which sounds so good, you are not actually giving up anything good. You are choosing to embrace the actual good stuff God has for you:
Luke 11:11-13 (NIV)
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
If you want to grow in your faith, in your walk with Jesus, and protect yourself from falling into the enemy's trap of lies, you must seek wisdom.
Final Words for this Introduction
I cannot adequately express to you the depth of God's love for you. He loves you more than you can possibly imagine. He wants very, very much to be with you forever, and He wants very much to see you GROW in Him. He has an amazing eternal destiny for you, and in the here and now, He has a wonderful purpose for you.The Word of God is full of instruction for us so that God's purpose can be fulfilled in us. If you are ready to move deeper into your relationship with Him and grow into the purpose He has for you, then stick with His growth plan. If life gets hard or overwhelming, don't give up! He has the very best in store for you.
Other than the Bible :-) the primary text we will use for our study is the book If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities by Mark Batterson. This book is really good! You do not have to read this book yourself, if time is an issue, but I will often refer to it and quote from it over the next few weeks.
In the next post, I am going to describe for you a few premises for how we study scripture in this group, and then we will dive into some key pieces of the book If.
No comments:
Post a Comment