Spritual Disciplines

As most of you know, I had a bit of a talk on Sunday, and so as I promised a couple of people... here it is, posted in full:

Spiritual Disciplines
What can we do practically to prepare for heaven?

When we get saved, two processes occur.
o Justification happens instantly; think of it as a 'just as if I'd never sinned'. It is when Christ enters our heart for the first time and makes us new creations.
o The second thing that occurs is Sanctification an ongoing process where the Holy Spirit helps us to become more like Christ every day, going from glory to glory

Think of it as an 'already' and a 'not yet' e.g. I ALREADY belong in heaven, because Jesus saved me, but I'm NOT there YET, because God hasn't finished working in me.

These two processes need to be kept in balance with each other. Focusing only on justification leads to a lack of motivation, "If Jesus did it all for me then I don't have to do anything" while focusing only on sanctification can lead to the 'good works salvation' just like the Pharisees in the bible, Jesus quotes from Isaiah in Matthew 15:8 "These people show honour to me with words, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules."

The word sanctification comes from the verb sanctify, which comes from the Greek word 'hagiazo' which means:
1. Set apart for sacred use, made holy and pure), consecrated.
2. Made holy, pure.
3. Sanctioned as with an oath or vow
4. To grant moral sanction to.
5. Made useful by holiness or spiritual blessing.

In the Bible, sanctification generally relates to a sovereign act of God whereby He "set's apart" a person, place or thing in order that His purposes can be accomplished. There are many occurrences of things being sanctified in the Old Testament.

o Exodus 29:43 "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory."
o Genesis: 2:3 "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
o Hebrews 10:14 says, "For by one offering He (Talking about Jesus' death on the cross) has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."

How does sanctification occur?
Sanctification starts when we get saved. At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit enters our life. We are set free from sin and are able to do the good things that God has planned for us. Unlike people of places in the Bible, people still have the capacity to sin. Any new Christian will be able to tell you of the battle being waged in our mind between the old habits and the Spirit living inside us.

o Galatians 5:17: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."
o In 1 John 3:2 it says "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

It's talking about complete sanctification; however this won't occur in your earthly life. It is talking about after we die, or when Christ returns, when we receive new glorified / completely sanctified bodies.

How do we become sanctified?
The outward effects of sanctification are the fruits of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22-23a "But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." However, try as we might, we cannot sanctify ourselves, it's impossible to change ourselves by sheer power of will, you might escape some habits by doing so, but you'll always return to them sooner or later. The only way that we can be changed is through the Holy Spirit and His process of sanctification. However there are things that we can do to open the way for the sanctification process to occur. These things are the spiritual disciplines.

Discipline is almost a dirty word in our culture today; it always entails "stuff that we don't want to do". One definition that stood out to me was "any activity within our power that we engage in to enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort." And it takes HARD WORK. Exercise is a great example. It's hard to do, especially when you're tired and all you want to do is sit in front of the TV and veg out for night, but the benefits are worth the pain. The Olympic athletes know about the worth of discipline, when they stand on that top tier holding their gold medal, they'll tell you the pain was worth it. And just as physical discipline has benefits so does spiritual discipline.

o Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8 "Training your body helps you in some ways, but serving God helps you in every way by bringing you blessings in this life and in the future."
o And 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 "So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something - not just air. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others."
o Hebrews 12:9 says "We have all had fathers here on earth who disciplined us, and we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits so we will have life."

Richard Foster, in his book 'Celebration of Discipline' uses two metaphors to illustrate the purpose of disciplines: a field and a path.

A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then natural forces of the earth take over and up come the grain. This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines. They are a way of sowing to the Spirit.

The spiritual disciplines are "a means of receiving God's grace, they allow us to place ourselves before God so he can transform us." He goes on to say that the spiritual disciplines are like a narrow ridge with a sheer drop-off on either side: there is the abyss of trust in works on one side and the abyss of faith without deeds on the other. On the ridge there is a path, the disciplines of the spiritual life. We must always remember that the path does not produce change; it only places us where the change can occur.

The task for us then is to cultivate our daily lives into fertile ground in which God can bring growth and change. This is what the spiritual disciplines are all about.

What are the spiritual disciplines?
" Celebration
o Philippians 4:4 "Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy."
o Another version says "Rejoice in the Lord". Part of being a Christian is celebrating the good things that God gives us.
" Confession
o James 5:16 "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you."
o This is a very important part of being a Christian. Confession and accountability can be hard at the best of times, no one likes to screw up and even less admits to it. The open confession of our sins to one another helps us to understand and help each other. It provides an avenue for the grace of God to come into our lives and set us free.

" Fasting
o There are many examples of fasting in the bible, probably the most famous one being Jesus' temptation in the desert where he fasted for 40 days and nights. Fasting can have many purposes. David fasted for his first son from Bathsheba so that he might live. Jesus said that some kinds of spirits would only come out through fasting.

" Guidance
o John 16:13 "But when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will lead you into all truth. He will not speak His own words, but He will speak only what He hears [from the Father], and He will tell you what is to come."
o We all need guidance at some point, and God should always be our guide. Every effort should be made to hear the voice of God. Under Him, are the people He places in our lives, mentors, accountability partners and disciples.

" Prayer
o Ephesians 6:18a "Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need."
o Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks."
o Without communication, any relationship will fail. And that is all that prayer is, open and honest communication with God. He is open to hear us at any time on any subject.

" Service
o 1 Corinthians 12:5 "There are different ways to serve, but the same Lord to serve"
o Matthew 23:11 "and you should not be called 'Master', because you have only one Master, the Christ."
o Jesus was the greatest servant of all. He served almost everyone that He came into contact with. True service is about humility, not doing it to get approval or acclaim, but simply serving for God.

" Simplicity or Self Denial
o Matthew 6:21 "Your heart will be where your treasure is."
o Philippians 4:12 "I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have more than I need and when I don not have enough."
o Living simply, doesn't mean giving away all your possessions, is simply means that your possessions are not your focus. You don't use them to draw attention to yourself

" Solitude
o Solitude or time alone with God is a big must for a proper relationship, just as time alone with your spouse or best friend can be very important to grow the relationship, so it is with God. We NEED to take some time out to spend simply alone with God.

" Study
o 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults and for teaching how to live right. Using scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work."
o The only way to learn about something is to study it, and the same is true of God. What better resource than Him own auto-biography, the Bible, to study from?

" Submission
o Ephesians 5:21 "Yield to and obey one another because you respect Christ."
o Matthew 23:10 "and you should not be called 'Master', because you have only one Master, the Christ."
o Submission can be one of the hardest disciplines to master. Everyone likes to have things done their own way. A great example of submission was King David, a man after God's own heart, who even though Saul tried to kill him many times, kept serving his king in the best way he knew, right up until Saul's death. Even then David avenged Saul, saying "You are responsible for your own death, You confessed by saying, 'I have killed the Lord's appointed king.'" (2 Samuel 1:16)

" Worship
o Romans 12:1 "So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him. Your offering must be only for God as pleasing to Him, whish is the spiritual way for you to worship."
o Hebrews 13:15 "So through Jesus let us always offer to God our sacrifice of praise, coming from lips that speak His name."
o John 4:24 "God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."
o Many Christians these days think that worship is a 1/2 an hour of singing praise songs while a band gets up on stage and plays...nothing could be further from the truth. Worship is simply giving to God what is His due. Every part of the Christian walk can be tied into worship in some way. So even to worship is a spiritual discipline, the spiritual disciplines are all part of worship. As we worship, God's presence becomes real to us.

Cheerio, D-Man