Bob Josey - Lesson Thriving in Jesus - 5A-Omniscience or Obedience - Dec 12, 2021

SLIDES

Thriving in Jesus

5A – Omniscience or Obedience

Introduction

Let’s turn the clock back 2000 years and go to the land of Israel. There was a family from the tribe of Judah who lived in Nazareth. They were descendants of King David. The father’s name was Yoseph and the mothers name was Miriam. Yoseph was a tradesman. He could have been a carpenter or even a stone mason. Miriam was homemaker as we would call it today. They had several children, male and female. The oldest of the kids was Yeshua. Yeshua was different than the other kids. He always, and I literally mean always, obeyed His parents. Would have loved to have a kid or kids like that? The others kids were what we would call normal kids because they did disobey their parents from time to time.

Since Yeshua was an exemplary child in so many facets of his life, his brothers and sisters may not have thought he was a cool kid. Since He always obeyed his parents, can you imagine sitting the supper table with some of the kids cutting up. Miriam says to the kids, “Please behave! Can’t you be more like Yeshua! Can’t you see all the kids just rolling their eyes when she says this? Then when the kids get by themselves, they say to themselves, “Why does Yeshua have to be like He is? Why can’t He be more like us? They would not know the answer to these questions until after the resurrection.

Omniscience or Obedience

Jesus’ ministry certainly was to die for the sins of the world, but there was more to it than that. He Jesus also came to do what Adam failed to do. Adam failed to walk with God and be obedient to Him all his life so Jesus came to straighten out the mess Adam cause the world to be in.

As we will see, Paul called Jesus the second Adam. Why was Jesus called the second Adam? When God created Adam, they were one. They were in sync. Adam followed the Lord’s leadership. But then sin changed everything. They were not united any longer nor were they one any longer one. Since Adam sinned, the sin nature has been passed down children for 6000. Sin brings physical and spiritual death to all men.

Pastor Stroud demonstrated that Jesus that throughout His full-time ministry did not rely on His powers as God to do the miracles, teach, and to prophesy. He was led by the Holy Spirit and did everything the Father wanted Him to do and speak and He did it though the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Son were in sync with one another. Philippians 2 5-8 gives us insight into this

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped … To be grasped means something claimed such as some type of title so they can hold on to it. Instead of trying to hold on to something that did belong to Him such as all the power and attributes of God, He did something else instead as we see in verses 7&8.

7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Emptied Himself means He divested Himself of all His powers, attributes, rights, and privileges as God to become man who would be a servant. By doing this, He humbled Himself even to the point of dying for the sins of mankind. Adam was disobedient which resulted in broken fellowship with God and the sin nature and physical and spiritual death being passed to all humans. Jesus, the second Adam, was obedient and brought forgiveness of sin and restoration with God in all who would place their faith in Him.

Since Jesus and the Father had always been one, Jesus as the Son did not work independently from the Father. He was submissive to the Father. This was nothing new. As D.A. Carson said in his’ commentary on John “The Father initiates, sends, commands, commissions, grants; the Son responds, obeys, performs his Father’s will, receives authority.^”

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit continually and consistently. Everything He did was in accordance with the Spirit’s leading. Not only was Jesus continually and consistently led by the Spirit, but He was totally obedient to everything the Father led Him to say and do through the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the only human to live who never sinned. This is why He could die on a tree for our sins.

We hear all the time from teaching podiums and pulpits that we need to be more like Jesus. One thing is for sure concerning being more like Jesus. No human, besides Jesus, will every live a sinless life and no human, besides Jesus will ever be continually and consistently led by the Holy Spirit even though He indwells us.

So, I pose the question to you. If we are to be more like Jesus in our daily lives, how do we do that? The statement I asked you to ruminate on is “Jesus was sinless but not perfect” Any comments or questions about that statement.

Let talk about two subjects that are intertwined with one another. One is our being led by the Holy Spirit and being obedient to whatever He asks us to do.

One difference between us and Jesus as humans is that He did not have a sin nature, but we certainly do. This internal sin nature that is also called the flesh is continually urging us to sin and Satan and the demons are externally and constantly urging us and tempting us to sin. Since we are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit who gives us wisdom and power, we can resist, overcome, and foil the internal urge to sin and the external urging by Satan and the demons to sin. Since we have already discussed how to defend ourselves from Satan and the demon’s external onslaught wearing the armor from God, we will not discuss that today. Today we are going to talk about how to deal with the internal sin nature.

To receive the wisdom and the power to resist, overcome, and foil the internal temptations that come from our sin nature, we must continually be led by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:5 Paul says this about the leading of the Holy Spirit.

For those who are walking according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are walking according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

The Christian life is a war zone. The war between the Spirit and the flesh rages as each battle for control of the believer’s heart and life. Paul describes a believers fight with the flesh. The term flesh does not mean the skin on our body. This word is referring to the inner inclination of human beings to sin. It is an innate capacity or propensity for sin. It’s called the old sin nature.

Paul here is contrasting two different types of lifestyles that men have and Paul uses the word walking to capture the meaning. On one hand, a person is living a lifestyle at that is patterned, dominated, and controlled by things that appeal to the thinking and doing things that appeal to the old sin nature such as greed, hate, lust, drunkenness, envy, etc. The believer does not have to walk after the flesh, but he can still allow the flesh to dominate his life.

On the other hand, a person is living a lifestyle at that is patterned, dominated, and controlled by things that appeal to the thinking and doing things the emanate from the Holy Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.

Did you note the significance of the mind. We can know to what extent the old nature or the Holy Spirit is influencing us by what our minds like to dwell on.

There is another verse we need to consider - Galatians 5:16. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

The answer to the exploits that occur by living a lifestyle of the flesh is to live by the Spirit. The verb translated walk is a present imperative and is literally translated, “keep on walking continue walking.” As a believer lives his or her life he or she should depend on the indwelling Holy Spirit for guidance and power. But the Spirit does not operate automatically in a believer’s heart. He waits to be depended on. When a Christian does yield to the Spirit’s control, the promise is that he will not in anywise (the double negative) desire i.e., gratify “the desires of flesh i.e., the sinful nature. Thus, while no believer will ever be entirely free in this life from the evil desires that stem from his fallen human nature, he need not yield to them, but may experience victory by the Spirit’s help.

Questions & Comments

Application

Are you continually and consistently being led by the Holy Spirit? Are you continually and consistently in sync with the Holy Spirit? None of us can answer yes to either of those questions. There are times when wordily things attract our attention and time. I read an article one time of how much time it takes to buy, learn how to use, and maintain what we call modern convenances. It is amazing how much time we spend on things like that.

Since we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are you always listening for or attentive to the Lord speaking to you or leading you? Listen, are you listening. No not to me but to the Holy Spirit. Are you listening to what many times is a still small voice from God telling you what to do or say. However, there are other times when that voice, telling you what to do or say. He has never spoken to me verbally, but does not mean He can’t do that, if He chooses.

There are some good examples of believers in Jesus yielding to the Holy Spirit are found in the book of Acts. In Acts 2:4 believers were to stay in the city until the Spirit came upon them. They were obedient.

On Paul’s second missionary journey in Acts 16:6–8, the Holy Spirit stopped them from going into Asia. That night in Troas, Paul had a vision that guided the missionaries to Macedonia. They yielded to the Spirit.

How does this work today? How does God speak to us today? What should be our response to Him speaking to us be? Let me suggest a few things.

The primary way that God speaks to us today is through His revealed, written Word by reading, memorizing, studying, and applying the Scriptures. That is why it is so important to read and study Scripture. When we want to hear God’s voice, the Bible is where we should look first. Most of the will of God for our lives is already fully revealed in its pages, and it is simply a matter of our obedience to it. All of Scripture is the will of God, but we must remember that we are under the authority of the New Covenant not the Mosiac Covent. Even though we are not under the authority of the Old Covenant, there are spiritual principles found there.

The Holy Spirit will never lead contrary to Scripture. If a person is considering having an affair, the Spirit will only lead in one direction—toward marital fidelity. The Spirit might very well bring a verse like 1 Thessalonians 4:3 to mind for the person being tempted. When the Spirit leads, He is not imparting “new” information as much as He is impressing on our hearts the truth God has already revealed in Scripture and applying it to our situation. If a person says, “God told me” or “The Spirit led me to do such and such,” and the action taken is contrary to Scripture, we can be sure the person is mistaken.

We can also hear God’s voice as God speaks through other people. For men many times it’s through you wife and for women it though you husband. Proverbs 15:22 “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.” We need good solid Christian friends who can give us counsel from time to time. They can be helpful. They can help us see a situation with new eyes Again, if any counsel you receive is contrary to Scripture, we know their counsel is not from God. Many times God’s voice is heard through the counsel of Christian friends.

Sometimes we can hear God’s voice leading us through circumstances. When I was a young believer, I applied for a job as a vocational director in a larger city. There were three candidates. I was the only one who had a master degree in vocational administration and the only with experience as a vocational director. Even though I was more qualified for the position, I did not get it. I did not understand at the time but several months later the LORD sent a new administrator in the school district to teach me about Isarel and the Jewish people.

Lastly, if we are going through a trial and need wisdom, the Lord says in James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. When a Christian is facing difficult circumstances and needs to hear from God, the Christian should ask for the wisdom that God promises to give. This wisdom will ultimately come from God, but it may come through the word of a friend; through a sermon, article, or book; or from the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. Once again, the written Word of God is the standard by which all thoughts, actions, ideas, and feelings must be judged.

One Song writer put it like this: Trust and obey, For there's no other way, To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey

SELAH